I Opened the Final Boss with My Own Hands – Ch. 28

I Opened the Final Boss with My Own Hands

Chapter 28

— — —

“I’ll handle it, so Yeon-hwa, you just rest by yourself!”

“Wait….”

“Use the bathroom, the kitchen, whatever you need!”

Jin Byeol-rim scurried off toward the walk-in closet, only to reappear a moment later wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket, heading straight for the front door.

While Yeon-hwa stood frozen by the sudden declaration of the homeowner’s departure, she had already vanished.

“I have to go to work anyway.”

Inheritance or whatever, it seemed like there was some business related to her, but…

Yeon-hwa was more concerned about the work waiting for her right now.

If one were to interpret Jin Byeol-rim’s words, it could have led to a development like, “Wait, am I the only daughter of a conglomerate family!?” but she didn’t want to get her hopes up only to be disappointed.

Above all, thanks to the diamond Hwayangseon had given her, her finances were already quite comfortable.

“The diamond?”

Suddenly, Yeon-hwa grabbed her head.

Right, the red diamond.

‘I left it in the drawer!’

In that room where neither Yeon-hwa nor Hwayangseon would be anymore.

‘What if someone steals it?’

She was even more worried because there was already a history of someone breaking in.

‘Who on earth were those people?’

The contemplation was brief; Yeon-hwa walked quickly into the bathroom.

If she wanted to check if the red diamond was safe and still make it to work, she had to leave now.

However.

“Oh my.”

Having washed up in a hurry and quickening her pace, Yeon-hwa froze the moment she stepped outside.

In a corner of the alleyway that caught her eye by chance.

A man in a red robe was standing still, his hands pressed together in prayer.

Because the hood of his robe was pulled down to his forehead, his face was cast in shadow and couldn't be seen clearly, but she could tell his mouth was moving incessantly, muttering something.

Seeing that bizarre sight, Yeon-hwa just watched him quietly.

If she approached, it would feel like she was interrupting, and it looked far too suspicious to just pretend not to see him and go on her way.

‘Is he chanting a spell?’

Or perhaps a prayer from some obscure religion?

She tried guessing this and that, but it soon became meaningless.

“Huh?”

The muttering man vanished from the spot.

To be precise, he turned into red smoke and soared upward.

Yeon-hwa took a few steps and slowly poked her head into the alley.

‘What just happened?’

It looked too ominous to be simple teleportation magic.

Squeak!

A rat popped out of a pile of trash and scurried past.

‘There are too many bad omens.’

That was when it happened.

Rumble.

A sound like thunder echoed overhead, and a black hole began to tear open in the sky.

“A Gate?”

A surprise Gate with no precursor phenomena. Though small in scale, it looked like monsters would soon pour out.

Yeon-hwa turned around to flee, but she couldn't leave.

A man stood blocking the entrance to the alley. He was a different person from the one in the robe.

Because that person was someone Yeon-hwa recognized.

A promising Double Hunter with striking green eyes, which he had replaced with prosthetics.

“…Puppeteer?”

Yeon-hwa called out his alias. She couldn't quite recall his real name.

The Puppeteer, with a weary face that looked as if he were worn down by something, reached out a hand toward Yeon-hwa.

* * *

The basement floor of a detached house in a remote area.

A gray-toned workshop where the lights were a bit dim, but bright enough to see each other’s faces.

In a place where the Puppeteer crafted puppets, with countless arms and legs of dolls scattered across the floor.

Yeon-hwa massaged her stiff shoulders and leaned back against a chair.

‘How on earth did I end up here?’

Confused by the overload of information in her head, Yeon-hwa recalled what happened in the alley.

“I don’t have any personal grudge against you.”

Immediately after they met, the Puppeteer had spouted the kind of villainous dialogue that sounded like he was about to harm someone.

But the actions he actually took were far from that.

It was only natural, after all… he had defeated the monster that lunged at Yeon-hwa in her stead.

‘A Gate had appeared out of nowhere.’

A black hole in the sky, vomiting out monsters.

The surprise Gate that opened without any warning had appeared suddenly in the sky where the man in the red robe had turned into smoke.

The monster that came out, a troll, had been beaten to a pulp by the Puppeteer.

At first, Yeon-hwa thought a Double Hunter passing by had luckily helped her, but that wasn't the case.

“Let’s go together.”

“Excuse me? I have to go to work.”

“You’ll die if you do.”

“Does that mean… work is death?”

“That’s not it! It means this isn't the only Gate that’s going to burst!”

How on earth could he know when and where a Gate that hadn't even burst yet would appear?

And before that, if it was dangerous, he should have just taken her to the nearest Hunter Association branch; why go through the trouble of bringing her to his own home?

She didn't understand it at all, and he hadn't explained it properly either.

But she had received help, and above all…

‘His expression was so desperate.’

He was pleading with a face that looked like he hadn't slept in two days and was half-dead, so she couldn't help but follow.

‘And yet, he’s so quiet now.’

The Puppeteer was just pacing around Yeon-hwa.

His bright brown ponytail, which contrasted with Gi Yeon-hwa’s bluish-black hair, kept swaying with every step.

His pacing around the room was restless.

“Is something wrong?”

Anyone could see he looked like he was dying of anxiety.

The Puppeteer, hit by Gi Yeon-hwa’s direct question, flinched and stopped in his tracks.

He seemed quite taken aback that she asked that instead of asking why he had brought her here.

Especially since she was looking at him with a somewhat worried expression.

“I intended to kidnap you.”

“…….”

…….

Silence fell at the sudden declaration of kidnapping.

“…I don’t know what you’re holding, but put it away. I’m not saying I’m kidnapping you right now.”

The Puppeteer said, recoiling at the sight of Yeon-hwa clutching something in her fist, looking ready to throw a punch at any moment.

Even at his words, Yeon-hwa, gripping the Key of Babylon tightly, didn't lower her guard at all.

“I’m the one who raided your house previously.”

The Puppeteer began to spill everything.

From the fact that he had resorted to kidnapping because of his younger sibling’s incurable disease, to the fact that he had made a deal with someone on the condition that they would cure the illness.

Everything, literally, except for the information that the mastermind was ‘Kang-young’.

Yeon-hwa listened to the story with a stoic face, and eventually, she opened her mouth.

“So?”

“…….”

“Why are you telling me that?”

A confession?

“Go to the police station for that.”

Yeon-hwa moved toward the door to slip out and pulled out her smartphone.

“You can’t report me now!”

The Puppeteer was horrified by her decisive response.

“I’m going to.”

There was a reason Yeon-hwa was acting so confidently.

Because she had already defeated Choi Gyu-yul once.

[Byeol-li: Shut your mouth, you weakest of the Double Hunters]

Recalling what Jin Byeol-rim had said to the Puppeteer in the Diamond Chat Room, Yeon-hwa recharged her confidence.

The Puppeteer was the weakest Double Hunter. But Yeon-hwa had already beaten Choi Gyu-yul, another Double Hunter.

Then she could obviously beat the Puppeteer too. It was a very simple logic.

Of course, she wasn't planning to fight him directly, but rather to lock the Puppeteer in by using the key, run away, and call for reinforcements.

“I’m going to prison anyway.”

The desperate Puppeteer continued, rambling.

“That’s why I’m reporting you.”

“No, I mean I intend to turn myself in once I’m done talking to you.”

So, after much persuasion, asking her to just listen for a moment.

“Then keep talking.”

The negotiation was dramatically concluded with the Puppeteer standing in the corner of the room with his hands up, and Yeon-hwa holding the doorknob so she could leave at any time.

“I am….”

“Wait. I’ll ask first.”

“…Go ahead.”

Though his words were cut off, the Puppeteer, having completely surrendered the initiative, nodded weakly.

“How sick is your sibling?”

“Pardon?”

“You said you tried to kidnap me because of your sibling. What exactly is wrong with them?”

“…….”

It was strange.

He had felt this way earlier too, but why did this woman keep showing concern?

Honestly, it was a relationship where he wouldn't have had a leg to stand on even if she got angry and cursed him out right now.

Regardless, since she had asked, he had a duty to answer faithfully.

“I know the name of the disease, but I’m not sure how to describe exactly what kind of disease it is.”

He had heard the name of the disease from Kang-young, but even after hearing it, the Puppeteer didn't know what it actually was. It wasn't a disease that could be cured by general modern medicine.

“What’s the name?”

Yeon-hwa asked.

“They call it Severed Pulse.”

“Severed Pulse?”

Yeon-hwa’s brow furrowed. It was a name she felt like she had heard somewhere before.