Chapter 764
For a moment, it felt as if the world had stopped.
The hundreds of people in the crowd, all staring at me with their mouths hanging open. The cameras and microphones jutting out here and there among them. The blinding lights illuminating the vast square in place of moonlight.
Everything around me slowed and blurred at the same time.
Except for the one person who had brought my world to a halt.
Michael Silbert.
A villain unlike any I had ever seen was watching me.
A smile he could no longer suppress and a sense of triumph floated in the gray eyes that were always so calmly subdued, and the voice drilling into my ears once again was perfectly clear.
– You seem quite shocked.
His words snapped me back to my senses, and I steadied my breathing belatedly.
A painful mistake.
No matter what he said, I should never have shown the slightest sign of being shaken.
The moment you show an enemy an opening, you expose your weakness.
And when that enemy is Michael Silbert, I needed to be even more careful.
‘It’s not too late yet. As far as I know, Skeleton King’s cover is airtight, and he still hasn’t shown any evidence.’
From this point on, I had to stay calm.
No matter what he said next, if I handled it properly and did not waver…
Damn it.
Crack.
The sound of bones grinding echoed from my tightly clenched fist.
No matter how much I tried to reassure myself, it was already too late.
From the moment my eyes met that gray gaze, my instincts had been screaming.
That one sentence from earlier had not been a simple probe.
Michael Silbert was standing here not with suspicion, but with certainty.
And the voice that came next put a final end to any doubt.
– You have two choices now. Ah, of course, there’s no real choice to speak of, but it might still be amusing to hear them.
A relaxed tone. A leisurely voice.
Michael Silbert, his back turned to the cameras, moved his lips with a look more delighted than ever.
– The first is for your friend’s identity to be exposed before the entire world. The second is for you to leave this noisy place and have a quiet, private conversation with me.
– So. What will it be?
Damn it.
The curse slipped out like a whisper, and he approached me with a faint smile.
Swish, tap.
His slowly extended hand brushed the dried blood and dust from my shoulder.
Only then did the journalists, belatedly coming back to their senses, unleash the shouts they had been holding in.
“Mr. Jin Taekyung! Did what you said earlier mean that you oppose the World Hunter Federation?”
“W-wait a moment! Please explain the exact meaning of that profanity!”
“Mr. Jin!”
Click. Flash! Flash!
Flashes burst from every direction amid the whirring of the cameras.
As the dam of suppressed silence collapsed and all kinds of noise poured out in a wave, Michael Silbert quietly raised a hand to calm the crowd and opened his mouth.
“The friend beside me is already a hero the whole world is watching, but he is also a hot-blooded young man. He has been through continuous battles and incidents lately, so I ask for your understanding.”
“Are you saying Mr. Jin is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder?”
“Well. I’m sorry, but that is a conversation for another time. However, the only thing I wanted to tell all of you here today is this.”
Michael Silbert continued, staring straight into the cameras.
“That the war has begun once again, and that if humanity is to survive the blood-soaked waves soon to come, we need an ark called the World Hunter Federation.”
“That is all. I wish you all a good night.”
That was the end of it.
Turning his back on the journalists clamoring behind the line of German federal troops and police holding them back, Michael Silbert started walking toward the private jet that had landed in the center of the square.
Along with a short remark only I could hear.
– I’ll have the coffee ready, so don’t keep me waiting too long.
Grind.
My teeth clenched on their own.
I already knew why he had left me with those words.
“Mr. Jin!”
“Mr. Jin Taekyung! Please, just one word!”
As I turned from the cameras as though fleeing them, two figures rushing toward me entered my sight.
Their faces were a mixture of confusion and shock, and their voices were low enough that only I could hear them.
“We’ve been played. This was all for this.”
“What the hell is going on? And what is this World Hunter Federation?”
I stayed silent despite the barrage coming at me like machine-gun fire.
What could I even say?
Where was I supposed to begin, and how was I supposed to explain it?
And after all those tangled thoughts, one person’s face suddenly rose in my mind.
“Magic Johnson.”
“What?”
At the name that came out of nowhere, Skeleton King furrowed his brow.
“Why are we suddenly talking about him? More importantly, what exactly is going on here… Did I get something on my face?”
Only then did I realize I had been staring hard at him without noticing, and I shook my head.
“…No. Not at all.”
I still didn’t know.
Whether I should tell him what had just happened.
What choice I, no, we, should make.
But some emotions are not things you can hide simply because you want to.
Only then did Team Leader Choi Minwoo realize there was something more beneath the surface, and his face hardened as he moved his lips.
– What is it? What in the world happened that you’re suddenly looking for Mr. Johnson?
– Tell us. Right now.
The thoughts tangled in my head were long, but the time they had to wait was short.
A few dozen seconds that felt like an hour passed, and I sent a Mental Transmission to Team Leader Choi Minwoo.
– Skeleton King’s identity has been discovered.
– Contact Magic Johnson. I need every result he’s uncovered so far based on the materials recovered from the late Siegfried Bassman’s hideout, and every single piece of information on Michael Silbert. Leave nothing out.
His pupils trembled.
Team Leader Choi Minwoo, silent as though he had lost his voice, gave a heavy nod, and I took a step forward with a deep breath.
The square, now emptied of people.
Toward the massive private jet positioned at its center like an impregnable fortress.
And toward the one man waiting for me inside.
‘Michael Silbert.’
Yes. He was right.
The war had already begun.
Michael Silbert had at least kept his promise in that one respect.
“Come in.”
The moment I stepped inside the private jet, which was as spacious as a suite, the first thing I saw was the coffee cup placed on the table.
Perhaps the beans had only just been ground, because the aroma was strong, and beyond the gently rising steam were darkness and light.
And somewhere between them, gray eyes watching me.
“Fortunately, you came quickly. I was worried the coffee would get cold.”
As I sat down, I quietly lowered my gaze to the cup filled to the brim.
When the silence stretched on, Huginn, standing behind me, opened his mouth.
“If it does not suit your taste, shall I prepare a different coffee for you?”
The tone was polite, but what lay beneath it was ridicule and sarcasm.
Without bothering to respond, I took my eyes off the cup and jerked my chin toward Michael Silbert.
“I’m not saying anything about people keeping pets, but I keep hearing crows cawing, and it’s pissing me off.”
Sss…
Along with the air growing heavier, a subtle sound drilled into my ears.
I spoke to Huginn, who had taken a step closer behind me.
“If you don’t want to start walking on all fours from today onward, get back where you belong. Before I rip your mouth apart.”
…
“Why? Do you think I can’t?”
The words were directed at Huginn, but my eyes were fixed on his master.
Michael Silbert, who had been watching me in silence, blinked.
“You’re serious.”
“Dead serious.”
“In front of me, of all people, you’re saying you’ll cripple Huginn?”
“I could kill him. Both of you.”
An ordinary person would probably not have been able to endure that kind of provocation.
If the other party knew my fatal weakness, they would have used it to threaten me, and if they were a force too dangerous to ignore, they would have tried to physically intimidate me.
But Michael Silbert was different.
He was the kind of man who fit both categories and yet somehow fit neither.
Michael Silbert let out a sigh I couldn’t quite understand and looked at me with interest.
“Setting aside whether you could actually do it, isn’t that too reckless?”
“If I were cautious, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place.”
At my answer, which came without even a moment’s hesitation, he gave a soft chuckle.
“Yes, that’s true. The last few years of your life, from everything I’ve looked into, have been one continuous series of reckless acts. That is probably why you were able to gain the public’s love and trust.”
“Maybe. But is that really all? There must be things even you failed to see.”
“There is a proverb in the East about empty bluster. Let’s not waste time on meaningless words. I already know everything about you.”
Wrong.
Michael Silbert knew nothing.
What kind of life I had really lived. How many reckless gambles I had used to break through crises and survive until today.
That was a secret no one in this world could possibly guess, and a weapon that would one day pierce my enemy’s heart like a dagger.
But Michael Silbert could not possibly know that, and when a quiet laugh escaped me, he wiped away the smile at the corner of his mouth.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Just because. I’m enjoying this right now.”
“Then does this ‘situation’ you’re referring to perhaps also include the fact that Skeleton King’s true identity is a monster?”
It was obviously a remark meant to shake me, but being visibly shaken once had already been enough.
Rather, the one who could not remain calm at those words was someone else.
Flinch.
At the trembling movement behind me, I shrugged.
“Looks like that one didn’t know.”
“He knows now.”
“He has been such a distraction since earlier that I could barely say what I needed to.”
“You may leave now, Huginn.”
After a brief hesitation, the loyal servant bowed and stepped out of the private jet, and his master opened his mouth again.
“As you already know, I could have revealed everything in front of the cameras.”
“Right.”
I nodded obediently.
“And by now, one of you would already be finished.”
“Correct. But I didn’t. Do you know why?”
“Because you’re fucking scared?”
Clink.
The teaspoon gently stirring the coffee cup came to a stop.
Gray eyes stared at me intently.
“You really are… a peculiar man.”
“You really are… a fucking bastard.”
‘Honestly, I don’t know if this is right.’
But even a cornered rat bites the cat.
Michael Silbert was a terrifying figure, worthy of being called a tiger.
But at the very least, the me standing here now was the Blazing Fire Dragon.
Sssss…
A frightening heat welled up through the palm resting on the table.
Amid the steam rising from it and swallowing even the vapor from the coffee cup, I whispered in a low voice.
“Try it. If you’re ready to die.”
(T/N: Fuck this im getting hyped…..!)