Chapter 435 – Part 2 – Ryu Jong-ik’s Choice

Kwak Min-cheol was the enemy who killed his daughter.

Therefore, Ryu Jong-ik had vowed countless times.

Whenever he struggled, whenever he felt weak, whenever he needed courage.

Recalling the warmth of his dying daughter in his arms, he had vowed.

That he would definitely complete his revenge.

That he would definitely tear Kwak Min-cheol apart with his own hands.

That’s why killing intent surged the moment he saw Kwak Min-cheol.

‘Before he can react, first…!’

He thrust his sword with the momentum to pierce his throat.

It was a surprise attack, but it couldn’t be called cowardly.

Considering the gap between them, it was natural.

He also had sufficient justification to kill Kwak Min-cheol.

And yet.

“……”

Ryu Jong-ik’s sword stopped right in front of Kwak Min-cheol’s nose.

The reason his action was halted was simple.

‘He didn’t take any defensive stance.’

He didn’t block, dodge, or equip any gear.

Far from squeezing his eyes shut, he just stared blankly with innocent eyes.

‘My attack couldn’t have been so fast that he couldn’t even think to block it, could it?’

If so, it would be right to think he had no intention of blocking at all.

‘Why?’

There was no time to continue questioning.

Not because Kwak Min-cheol counterattacked.

“Wh-waaaaaah!”

Because he suddenly burst into tears.

“Wh-what…”

Ryu Jong-ik was flustered.

He had no choice but to be.

Though he had expected Kwak Min-cheol to sneer or rage at him, he hadn’t expected a development where Kwak Min-cheol would cry.

“Kwak Min-cheol. What kind of trick…”

“Waaaaaah!”

“What are you doing right now…”

“Waaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Stop the act…”

“Waaaaaah! Waaaaaah!”

As he cried like a child, drooling tears, snot, and even saliva, Ryu Jong-ik closed his mouth.

‘It’s not an act. He’s really crying.’

He wasn’t hurt, so he must be crying from surprise, but it didn’t make sense.

‘What? Why did he suddenly regress like a child?’

No matter how he looked, it was definitely the Kwak Min-cheol he knew, but now he seemed no different from an oversized toddler.

Filled with questions, Ryu Jong-ik recalled a fact he had overlooked.

‘Come to think of it, Kwak Min-cheol was imprisoned here, wasn’t he? Why?’

He was imprisoned in a prison he had made himself?

Moreover, he was acting childishly as if he had mental problems.

‘What happened? Something I don’t know about?’

It was completely incomprehensible to Ryu Jong-ik.

That’s when it happened.

“Are you curious?”

Someone appeared from behind the Black Mask.

“Choi Seong-min… Hunter?”

Since he was an uninvited guest, Ryu Jong-ik was puzzled.

“How did you get here? Did you tail us?”

“You could say that.”

“Why?”

“Because I need to wrap things up.”

“Because of Kwak Min-cheol? I was going to wrap things up alone with the Black Mask.”

“The Black Mask…”

Choi Seong-min chuckled and equipped an item.

Swoosh-

His face was covered with a black mask.

“Are you referring to this?”

“Th-the Black Mask…?”

Ryu Jong-ik looked back and forth between the two with wide eyes.

“Two… Black Masks?”

“No. That one is a stand-in I set up. The mask is a custom-made replica.”

Choi Seong-min ostentatiously removed the mask.

Seeing him repeatedly equip and remove it, it was definitely an item.

Meanwhile, the Black Mask was still standing there without removing his mask.

“Is what Hunter Choi Seong-min said true? Black Mask?”

“Yes. I only came out as Choi Seong-min’s stand-in for today. The person who has been active as the Black Mask all along is Choi Seong-min.”

Since the Black Mask himself admitted it, Ryu Jong-ik had no choice but to believe it.

Though it was hard to believe even seeing it.

“I suspected it might be, but to think Hunter Choi Seong-min was the Black Mask…”

“Still, you almost predicted it. If I hadn’t set up a stand-in at the last moment, you would have continued suspecting.”

“What’s the reason for revealing your identity now? And who is this person?”

Choi Seong-min glanced at the Black Mask.

He couldn’t reveal that the person he had set up as a stand-in was Woo Seong-jae.

‘If I did that, he wouldn’t even listen to me.’

He would probably think he had conspired with the Great Heroes to mock him.

“I cannot reveal this person’s identity.”

“……”

“However, I can tell you why I’m doing this.”

“What is it?”

“To give you a chance to choose.”

“Choose?”

Choi Seong-min’s gaze turned to Kwak Min-cheol.

“Do you know why that guy became like that?”

Ryu Jong-ik shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“Because I erased his memories.”

“What?”

For a moment he wondered if he had misheard and asked back, but Choi Seong-min kindly repeated it.

“I subdued Kwak Min-cheol and erased his memories. I completely erased everything except eating, sleeping, and defecating.”

“……”

Ryu Jong-ik’s gaze became squinty.

A reaction of disbelief.

As if he had expected this, Choi Seong-min was calm.

“It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. I have a trait that erases memories, and using that, I can also view that person’s past.”

“What kind of ridiculous trait is that…”

“Yesterday you fought a tracker at the mansion to protect our family, didn’t you?”

Ryu Jong-ik nodded.

Since he had fought so hard, there was no way he wouldn’t remember.

“At that time, you died once to the tracker.”

“What? Me?”

“When you opened your eyes, the place was full of blood, wasn’t it? Weren’t you puzzled about why?”

“I was certainly puzzled…”

Ryu Jong-ik didn’t deny it.

He had even discussed this problem with Gang Min-chan.

“When I arrived, both of you had already been killed by the tracker.”

“You clearly said we had fainted…”

“Of course it was a lie.”

“……”

“There’s an item called Potion of Life that can revive the dead. I happened to have a spare, so I used it to revive you and Captain Gang Min-chan, then erased your memories. It was my way of being considerate so you wouldn’t recall painful memories.”

“……”

He had never heard of an item that could revive people.

It sounded absurd, but he couldn’t completely dismiss it.

The circumstances coincidentally matched up.

“So the feeling of having a gap in memory was because you erased it…”

“That’s right.”

“Ah…”

All the questions he had at the time were resolved, but he couldn’t fully believe it.

Because there was no evidence.

As if he had expected this, Choi Seong-min continued.

“In the process of viewing memories, I glimpsed your past.”

“My past…”

“You went through something so terrible it’s hard to even speak of.”

“……”

“I understood why you created an organization called Revolution, why you’re so obsessed with killing Kwak Min-cheol. I too have experienced losing someone precious.”

“Did you really glimpse my past?”

“Yes. You’re regretting whether Eun-bi wouldn’t have died if you had accepted Kwak Min-cheol’s proposal then, aren’t you?”

Ryu Jong-ik’s pupils dilated.

“Rather, you did well to refuse. If you had accepted the proposal and become Kwak Min-cheol’s direct subordinate, you would have been discarded not long after.”

After hearing Choi Seong-min’s words, Ryu Jong-ik had no choice but to believe.

He had never told anyone about his past.

“Certainly… you seem to be able to see the past.”

“It’s not just seeing. I can also erase memories.”

“I’ll believe it. Both that you can erase memories and that there are items that can revive people.”

Though he said he believed, the wariness didn’t disappear from Ryu Jong-ik’s eyes.

“But why are you revealing such important information to me?”

“Because I can just erase your memory afterward.”

“If you’re going to erase it anyway, what meaning is there in revealing it like this?”

“As I said before, I’m trying to give you an opportunity. An opportunity to kill Kwak Min-cheol directly.”

“An opportunity…?”

“Choose. Whether to kill Kwak Min-cheol who has lost his memory or not.”

“……”

Ryu Jong-ik’s gaze turned to Kwak Min-cheol.

He could see Kwak Min-cheol looking at him with eyes reddened from crying until exhausted.

‘Honestly, it would be easy to kill the current Kwak Min-cheol.’

He had come here prepared to die, but what awaited him was Kwak Min-cheol who had lost his memory.

And Kwak Min-cheol who couldn’t offer any resistance, whose intelligence had become worse than a toddler’s.

‘I just need to thrust the sword and he’ll die.’

He could kill him simply without anyone’s interference.

‘The revenge I so desperately wanted is right before my eyes.’

And yet.

Even so.

‘Why… why am I hesitating?’

As Ryu Jong-ik’s hand trembled, his sword also shook.

“I-I can’t do it.”

Ryu Jong-ik lowered the sword he had been holding.

Though the opportunity was laid out for him to take, he couldn’t take it.

Seeing this, Choi Seong-min smiled inwardly.

‘As expected.’

Choi Seong-min had somewhat expected this would happen.

‘Given Ryu Jong-ik’s personality, it wouldn’t be easy to kill an opponent who can’t resist.’

No matter that he had killed his daughter, Kwak Min-cheol currently couldn’t remember.

Unless he were cold-blooded, it wouldn’t be easy to raise the sword.

‘Though I thought there might be a bit of a twist, it ends up like this after all.’

Choi Seong-min wanted to know through Ryu Jong-ik.

If the target of revenge lost their memory?

Would he proceed with revenge?

Would he try to kill them even knowing they had no memory?

‘I killed them. Very mercilessly.’

During his time as Min Do-jun, he had moved and advanced solely for revenge.

Even knowing they didn’t remember what happened before regression, he had found reasons to kill his opponents.

‘Of course, they deserved to die. Everyone I killed was a criminal.’

They were criminals, but they couldn’t remember personal matters related to revenge?

It matched exactly with the current Kwak Min-cheol.

Ryu Jong-ik was in the same situation as Min Do-jun back then.

That’s why he was curious.

Whether Ryu Jong-ik would make the same choice as himself.

‘But he didn’t.’

If they couldn’t remember, revenge also became meaningless.

That’s what Ryu Jong-ik was thinking.

‘That means he’s not ruthless enough. That his nature is completely different from mine.’

When he learned that Ryu Jong-ik wanted revenge, Choi Seong-min had felt kinship.

Because they had both lost someone precious and both dreamed of revenge.

That’s why he provided him with the opportunity to kill Kwak Min-cheol.

And watched out of curiosity.

What choice Ryu Jong-ik would make if he were in the same situation.

‘The result is as expected. He has the opposite nature from me.’

This was what Choi Seong-min truly wanted to know.

‘If his nature is opposite to mine… I can trust him with the association presidency.’

After killing Kwak Min-cheol and the coup ended, the association president’s position would become vacant.

Someone had to sit in that position, whether they liked it or not.

And there was a high possibility that Ryu Jong-ik would claim that achievement.

‘Actually, the Black Mask’s achievement is greater, but I can’t serve as association president while hiding my identity.’

Most importantly, Choi Seong-min could no longer play the role of the Black Mask.

He had to return to the underworld and settle things with Derkius.

‘The Black Mask should gradually retire.’

That’s why the association president had to be someone he could trust.

‘If a good person like Ryu Jong-ik takes the position, I can be at ease.’

What if Ryu Jong-ik had been a cold-blooded person without blood or tears?

What if he had killed Kwak Min-cheol like a murderer obsessed with revenge?

‘Then… I would have used Mind Control on Ryu Jong-ik whose karma became 100.’

He might have mind-controlled him and made him a machine that only performed righteous commands, then placed him in the association president’s seat.

Because he couldn’t trust him.

But if it was Ryu Jong-ik who had stopped his revenge, he could trust him.

He could entrust the association presidency with peace of mind.

“Are you really not going to take revenge?”

“Yes… I won’t. No, I can’t. I can’t kill someone who can’t even remember…”

Choi Seong-min nodded curtly.

Inwardly satisfied that it was fortunate Kwak Min-cheol wasn’t killed.

“I definitely gave you a chance for revenge, didn’t I?”

“I under…”

Before he could finish speaking, Choi Seong-min’s hand moved.

No, he didn’t even realize it had moved.

Ryu Jong-ik only witnessed the dagger hitting Kwak Min-cheol’s forehead.

“Ah…”

“As promised, since you failed, I dealt with Kwak Min-cheol myself.”

“……”

At that emotionless tone, Ryu Jong-ik couldn’t continue speaking.

Though he seemed quite shocked inside, Choi Seong-min didn’t care.

‘He probably thinks I’m cold-blooded.’

It didn’t matter either way.

Though Kwak Min-cheol had died without being able to resist, he didn’t feel sorry.

By his standards, erasing memories didn’t erase the sins that had been committed.

“Leader.”

“……”

“Leader?”

“Yes?”

Ryu Jong-ik, who had been staring blankly, looked at him with surprised eyes.

“I’m going to erase your memory from now on.”

“Ah…”

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll only erase recent memories of seeing Kwak Min-cheol.”

Saying this, Choi Seong-min placed his hand on Ryu Jong-ik’s head.

“Just stay still like this for a moment.”

“How long…”

“10 seconds is enough.”