Chapter 46: Even If You’re Caught in a Tiger’s Den (4)

 

In front of the Louisville elevator, a girl was floating around, emanating a menacing aura.

 

The man looked at the girl and thought, ‘As expected, a child’s true nature doesn’t change easily. But her temperament has improved a lot compared to before.’

 

However, she hadn’t improved enough to understand mercy. So, the man decided to talk to the girl to buy time for the one being targeted by the monster named Kim Sojin.

 

“But why underwear, of all things? Wouldn’t it be better to use a bug instead?”

 

“Yoo Hajin learned information distortion and contamination. And at a very high level too.”

 

“Really? Well, geniuses are different, as expected.”

 

The girl’s eyes pierced through the city.

 

She was likely scanning every soul at the coordinates displayed on her phone.

 

“Still, with this underwear, it’s possible to send the most crucial information at the most critical moment, just once.”

 

“The most critical moment? The most crucial information?”

 

The man’s head spun.

 

What exactly is the most critical moment?

 

Was that man’s chastity that important?

 

But while the man was flustered, the girl flew even higher. She was now at a height where his voice couldn’t reach her.

 

And then, the girl suddenly flew towards the city.

 

“Damn.”

 

The man, whose blood-stained hand was holding a cigarette, sincerely hoped that whoever had incurred Kim Sojin’s wrath would survive.

 

****

 

The moment Yoo Hajin’s pants tore and became just a piece of cloth,

 

the tiger lifted her head.

 

Twitch-

 

The tiger sensed danger approaching with her unique transcendent senses. Instinctively, she took a cat-like posture just before a leap, smiling.

 

“Grrr.”

 

With her back lowered and pelvis raised,

 

her body swayed in that distinctive motion.

 

“W-wow.”

 

Despite being on the brink of assault, Yoo Hajin couldn’t help but exclaim.

 

And he couldn’t help but exclaim again when, the moment the tiger jumped, the ceiling broke and the clear sky became visible.

 

“Wow, damn. This is half-underground, what the hell.”

 

Thud-

 

Yoo Hajin brushed off his shoulders, covered in falling concrete dust. Then, he struggled to untie the thick chains binding his body.

 

They were thick iron chains with no supernatural power.

 

So, it was extremely tough for Yoo Hajin to undo them.

 

“Urgh!”

 

But he didn’t necessarily have to break the chains to free himself from them.

 

****

 

Kim Sojin stood in the sky, looking down at the world below.

 

She saw, with a thunderous roar, a tiger-like monster emerge from the slums.

 

In truth, it only resembled a tiger; it looked more like an evil god from another world.

 

Each strand of fur writhed like a tentacle filled with malice, and the eyes sparkled with the truth of an absolute predator staring down its prey.

 

Its hundreds of teeth were more closely packed than a typical tiger’s, and just looking at a single tooth felt like it could pierce through your body.

 

And its body was as large as a small building.

 

Yet, its muscles were tightly packed, moving with a terrifying agility.

 

Kim Sojin watched as the surrounding spirits fled in fear and said,

 

“So, it’s you? The tiger that devours Gwizons to turn them into ghastly spirits.”

 

“Grrr. Grrr.”

 

“Answer me.”

 

“Roar!!!”

 

Twitch-

 

How long had it been since she felt this kind of pressure?

 

Kim Sojin momentarily forgot her anger and smiled.

 

“I suppose you can make your spirit form even bigger. Go ahead.”

 

Kim Sojin formed a hand seal.

 

Since they were in the middle of Seoul, she couldn’t open a ghost gate.

 

She also couldn’t use her area-wide skills or some of the top-grade spirits she had collected.

 

Still, she thought it wouldn’t take more than 30 minutes to kill that tiger. With a cold expression, Kim Sojin clasped her hands together.

 

Looking at the now much larger tiger, Kim Sojin formed another seal.

 

“Principle activation. Spirit Summoning.”

 

Spirits under Kim Sojin’s command began to appear behind her.

 

Without hesitation, the tiger also summoned the gwizons it had devoured.

 

“Grrr. Ghastly spirits, follow me.”

 

Seeing this, Kim Sojin sighed.

 

A battle between spirits and gwizons.

 

No matter how she looked at it, there would definitely be casualties.

 

“Haa, if there are casualties, that old man will threaten to tell Yoo Hajin everything again. What a bother.”

 

At that moment, the tiger’s front paw flew toward Kim Sojin.

 

The girl dodged it lightly, muttering to herself.

 

“Your moves are too obvious. You can’t even hide the intentions of your soul. A master like Yoo Hajin wouldn’t be able to predict even a single flick. Ugh, boring. I got my hopes up because you’re a tiger.”

 

Such predictable attacks.

 

To someone who could read souls, it was almost like seeing a few seconds into the future.

 

The attack was strong but of a low level. With a bored expression, Kim Sojin dodged the attack by a hair’s breadth.

 

“To avoid getting nagged by that old man, I should finish you quickly, right?”

 

Easily dodging the tiger’s swipes, Kim Sojin seized a moment and placed her hand on the tiger’s left arm.

 

It was less than a second of an opening. But for someone who could read souls like Kim Sojin, it was enough to know the tiger couldn’t do anything to her during that brief moment.

 

“Yin-yang inversion. Soul Annihilation, Soul Severing.”

 

The tiger’s left arm was severed, and the feedback caused Baek Yoorin’s left arm to twist and shatter.

 

Baek Yoorin shed tears, crying out in pain.

 

“Grrr! It hurts!!!”

 

“It hurts? You sound human when it hurts. But what can you do?”

 

With a cold expression, Kim Sojin spoke.

 

“You’ll die for messing with what’s mine.”

 

****

 

-Ack, aaargh!

 

-Phew, damn it!

 

-Pant, pant.

 

I somehow twisted the chains and managed to free my arm.

 

Now, it was time to free my legs.

 

“This isn’t working...”

 

But my legs seemed hopeless.

 

They were tightly bound.

 

What should I do?

 

I felt my freed arm touch my pocket.

 

Fortunately, my smartphone was still there.

 

Now, I just needed to use this smartphone to escape from the tiger’s den.

 

Should I call 112 and let the tiger experience the fear of the people’s protector?

 

“...”

 

If I did that, the tiger would probably break the people’s protector’s baton. Or maybe the baton would be too scared to come out of their pocket.

 

In any case, law enforcement wasn’t going to help in this situation.

 

So, I searched how to unlock chains on Googgle.

 

After all, Professor Googgle knows everything.

 

But even Professor Googgle didn’t know how to unlock such thick chains.

 

I couldn’t give up like this.

 

I searched through other sites.

 

Eventually, I ended up on NewTube.

 

“Interesting...”

 

Damn, I wasted three minutes watching shorts about forging chains in a foundry.

 

I shook my head and searched for Baek Yoorin.

 

After all, they say, ‘Know your enemy, know yourself, and you will be undefeated in a hundred battles.’ While knowing your opponent doesn’t guarantee victory, it does help.

 

So, I quickly searched for Baek Yoorin.

 

Baek Yoorin. Oh, she was a child actress.

 

Then she joined a major agency.

 

I found videos of Baek Yoorin dancing and photos of her with friends. She looked so bright back then.

 

But the comments were different.

 

<Stop! That scary clip is giving me nightmares!>

 

<Damn, I almost had a heart attack!>

 

Judging by the comments, even old photos seemed to be affected by her spiritual awakening.

 

Next, I looked up the news.

 

There weren’t many articles about Baek Yoorin before her spiritual awakening.

 

There were a few entertainment articles, but most of them praised her beauty, her talent in singing, dancing, and acting.

 

Normally, I would think these were paid articles by her agency, but Baek Yoorin was actually talented and beautiful enough to earn such praise, so they probably weren’t ads.

 

After her spiritual awakening, the number of articles about Baek Yoorin skyrocketed.

 

To be precise, the term “tiger” started appearing more frequently than her name.

 

Articles about people having heart attacks after seeing the tiger.

 

Articles about the tiger being appointed as a celestial being.

 

Articles about tens of thousands of people protesting falling property prices after the tiger settled in a part of Seoul.

 

“Wow, these people value their property more than their lives.”

 

I found the article intriguing and decided to read it.

 

The article featured Baek Yoorin’s voice. Appearing via a phone call in a video, she expressed her thoughts without showing her face.

 

“Ah, hello. I’m heading to the deep mountains of Gangwon-do. So, please don’t curse me too much. I’m sorry. I have to stay here to protect Seoul according to the Cheonji. This is not an excuse. So, um...”

 

“Sa-save me!!!”

 

“God? Is that the voice of a god? Ahahahaha!!!”

 

As soon as Baek Yoorin spoke, tens of thousands of people fled. They said that dozens died from stumbling while running away.

 

There were no more protests after that.

 

Instead, there were minor acts of terrorism at Baek Yoorin’s place.

 

It was reported that letters filled with curses and filth were thrown at Baek Yoorin’s house. However, there were no articles about Baek Yoorin retaliating.

 

The next article was brief.

 

It reported the death of Baek Yoorin’s only family member, her mother.

 

The comments revealed the story behind the article.

 

<She cried and wailed that her daughter was eaten by a tiger and then just jumped.>

 

<She worked every day, sleeping only four hours to support her daughter. So tragic.>

 

<They had such a deep bond. Truly heartbreaking.>

 

Sometimes, the circumstances of people I didn’t know pierced my heart. What was this illusion that I could hear the cries of a boy hit by a 12-gauge shotgun and the younger Baek Yoorin’s cries in my ears?

 

The following articles were not much different.

 

An article argued that the tiger’s den should be called the safest area in Seoul, not one of the three most dangerous areas. It claimed that the area had almost no damage from evil spirits.

 

Another article reported that Baek Yoorin, under the name of Cheonji, had saved a foreign city.

 

She reportedly saved tens of thousands of people abroad.

 

That was all there was.

 

At that moment,

 

Crash- Crash- Crash-

 

came sounds from the ceiling.

 

Then, a blood-soaked Baek Yoorin broke through the ceiling and descended.

 

“Gasp. Damn.”

 

The sight was so horrific that I was at a loss for words.

 

Baek Yoorin was gasping for air and crying.

 

Her wounds seemed to be growing larger, as if she were cursed.

 

“It... it hurts... Mom...”

 

She looked like she was 120% going to die if left like this.

 

Seeing her, I let out a deep sigh.

 

“Really, I’m just a sucker.”

 

I freed my legs with the key at Baek Yoorin’s waist and then carried her on my back.

– – – The End of The Chapter – – –

 

[TL: You can support the translation and read 5 chapters ahead of the release here on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Bill94