Choi Min-Seok shouted with determination, no longer looking like the alcoholic wanderer from just moments ago.

‘Yes, after all, he’s still my blood relative from my father's side.’

Choi In-Young smiled inwardly and slowly crossed her legs. She commented, "It's not a difficult task. Yu-Seong is so arrogant these days, right?”

"What? Oh, yes. That's right…but…“ Choi Min-Seok trembled. He hadn’t experienced any good outcome from getting involved with Choi Yu-Seong recently. Although he tried to suppress it, hearing Yu-Seong’s name alone made him feel fear once again.

‘And he's even acquainted with the Slaughter Queen!’

Min-Seok wasn’t stupid enough to spit out his inner cry. He simply said, "Th-Then, you want me to kill Yu-Seong…?"

"What...?! How can you say such a scary thing?” In-Young responded with a surprised look. She jumped up from her seat and shook her head, looking at Choi Min-Seok like he was a disgusting bug.

Naturally, Choi Min-Seok became impatient. He quickly said, "No, that's not what I meant! I... I made a ridiculous remark. Noo-nim, please don't misunderstand."

"No matter how much you dislike him, you can't use such scary threats between siblings. Got it, Min-Seok?"

"Yes, yes, got it. Hehe," Min-Seok said.

"Okay, then, let's put it this way. It's true that Yu-Seong is arrogant these days, so I want to punish him as his sister,” Choi In-Young said.

"Well..."

"I wish I could, but there are actually only a few ways to do so."

"...Yes."

"But isn't that all thanks to Father's attention?”

"What?"

"Father is paying attention to Yu-Seong, so it's not easy to punish him."

Choi Min-Seok was stupid enough to misunderstand Choi In-Young's words. He asked, "Is there a way I can distract Father?”

"Yes, but it's not easy. As you know, Father cares more about Yu-Seong these days. Hmm..." said In-Young.

Choi Min-Seok furrowed his brow, but he couldn’t think of any ideas.

Choi In-Young watched Min-Seok for about five minutes before saying with a short yawn, "Wouldn't it be good for Choi Yu-Seong to get into trouble and lose Father’s affection?”

"But he eagerly takes care of his reputation these days..." Choi Min-Seok blurted out, shutting up only after looking into In-Young’s eyes. He couldn’t get over the creepy smile that reached In-Young’s eyes.

"The fall of a popular star is surprisingly easy. A small slip of the tongue, a disappointing action, an unexpected flaw would be enough,“ In-Young stated.

This was the reason why some people who lived a life in the limelight didn’t want their identities to be revealed.

"Choi Yu-Seong is a little special. He has always been a troublemaker, right?”

A small incident couldn’t easily capture people’s attention. Also, Choi Woo-Jae's interest in Yu-Seong would not easily fade away. But what if Yu-Seong made a really big and unexpected mistake? Or what if he had some kind of weakness?

‘If he doesn't have a weakness, we can simply just make one up.’

Choi Min-Seok was too scared to face Yu-Seong directly anymore. However, he could take the risk to harm Yu-Seong’s reputation from behind the scenes and perhaps succeed. Above all, it seemed incredibly fascinating to join In-Young’s side. To be exact, he would then essentially be on Choi Seok-Young’s side.

"I'll do my best. It wouldn’t be a problem for Yu-Seong himself too. Since he’s used to those displeasures, right?” Choi Min-Seok’s eyes twinkled as he spoke.

Choi In-Young nodded, then got up from her seat. "Do well. I'll be looking forward to it."

"Yes, noo-nim! Please tell our brother that I’m thankful for him!"

Choi In-Young stopped walking for a moment when she heard that. Her eyes glowed coldly, reddening. Then, as if that sudden moment of tension had never existed, she revealed her usual smile, looked back, and waved lightly. "Oppa will root for you, too."

"Thank you!" Min-Seok shouted.

Leaving her brother behind, Choi In-Young left the room and held her cell phone with a cold look in her eyes.

‘Choi Seok-Young.’

At that moment, her brother, Choi Seok-Young, coincidentally called. After checking the caller’s name, In-Young accepted the call and said quietly, "Choi Min-Seok asked me to thank you.”

- …I don't understand what you're saying.[1]

“Because I gave him a task. I guess he believes you are the one who pulls the strings.” Choi In-Young smiled, thinking of Choi Seok-Young's stumped expression.

- He's just a kid who knows nothing.

"But I don't feel good. What should I do?" In-Young asked.

The conversation was absolutely strange, bearing no resemblance to a talk between an older brother and younger sister. During such a conversation, Choi Seok-Young knew what he had to say.

- I'll sort it out.

"Not right away, let's do it after watching how he deals with Yu-Seong. Oh, and don’t do it yourself. Call Director Geum and let him do it for you. I’ll let him know.”

- Yes, and to the chairman…

“Father doesn't care about Choi Min-Seok at all. Didn’t I say that Yu-Seong is a unique case? So make sure to treat Choi Min-Seok as cruelly as possible. I think it'd be perfect if you threw him as bait,” In-Young said.

- ...Okay.

"Haha! I'm kidding, I'm kidding." Choi In-Young laughed loudly into her cell phone. Then, she left Choi Min-Seok's house and got in the back seat of the car that was waiting for her. She asked, “Don’t you get my joke? Do I really look like someone who's going to kill my younger brother?"

- ...

"Let's just scold him a little after seeing how he works. You know my style, right? Driver Kim, start heading out."

"Yes, ma'am."

Choi Seok-Young and Driver Kim, who was behind the wheel, answered at the same time.

Satisfied, Choi In-Young nodded and hung up after hearing Choi Seok-Young's report. From the car window, she could see the entire city center which she had always found cool-looking.

In-Young vividly remembered one night when a thunderstorm raged. Her only blood relative screamed while tied to a wooden chair on a hexagram drawn with red blood.

‘Oppa, I hated you.’

Choi Seok-Young had said that he loved her and begged for his life, but his soul had been taken by the devil and torn to shreds. Then, a new soul took over his body.

Choi In-Young had gone on to teach the innocent soul many things, as if she were his mother. She had taught him how to live a life, the laws of the world, and to have complete loyalty to her.

Very few people actually knew this, but there existed terrifying means in the world in which even a person’s soul could be exchanged.

Therefore, when Yu-Seong had shown a sudden change, Choi In-Young had suspected that someone with the same specialized skill as her, "Witch," had done the trick. Since the person had become completely different after that, she assumed that the soul had been changed. However, she had to stop being suspicious after a while.

'You need blood from at least ten maidens to have a soul-swapping ceremony.’ 

Since the soul absorbed such a great amount of blood, it would always exude a strong bloody odor. However, from In-Young’s distant observations, Yu-Seong never stank of blood.

Above all, the new person born from a spirit exchange ritual was no different from a clean and blank sheet of paper—innocent—at the beginning. They were almost like a baby who couldn’t speak a word. This was nothing unusual, since what was created using the blood of ten maidens was a brand new soul. In other words, growth in a short period of time like Choi Yu-Seong’s was impossible.

In the end, Choi In-Young had to come to the same conclusion as everyone else.

‘He has been hiding himself so far but has now revealed himself. It means he has something to believe in.’ 

What would it be?

Choi In-Young was cautious and had no intention of directly bothering Choi Yu-Seong until she found out the secret.

'I'll have to get to the bottom of this.’ 

Even if he was a disposable card, it would be nice if Choi Min-Seok could carry out the task well. Choi In-Young closed her eyes to take a break.

***

Choi Yu-Seong's growth was on a rapidly-rising curve.

‘I gained nine levels in just three days.’

Thanks to this, Yu-Seong was now at level 13. If he recalled the time when he had hunted for a week to gain 15 levels, this was certainly considered a rapid growth.

‘Moreover, my level then was lower than it is now.’ 

Since his level and rank had increased, Yu-Seong needed more experience points to level up again. This was simply common sense, everyone knew about this fact. Nevertheless, with the tremendous help of the Star Factor skill, which had recently developed rapidly, he could still record a faster growth rate.

『Special Skill: Star Factor D

The more people pay attention to the holder, the faster his growth level accelerates. Additional ability unlocked once the level of attention exceeds a certain number.

D-rank perks – Increases focus of attention when exposed to video media such as cameras.

Current acceleration rate +100% → +130%

*New: Additional privileges are opened by achieving new interest figures. Experience points required for growth -1% → -3% 』

‘Oh wow, I still can’t believe this no matter how much I look at it.’

Choi Yu-Seong had obtained the best skill for increasing his level. In fact, it was not that there were no hunters with skills related to increasing growth speed. To be more precise, they were quite common among the top rankers. Among them, the most famous skill known to the public was the ‘Titanic Growth’ skill of Yamamoto Kyosuke, the Nioh of Japan. At the D-rank, that skill had offered Nioh a growth rate of 150%.

When the skill had been released to the public, the whole world had been surprised. Nioh had proved the skill’s tremendous effect by reaching the S-rank, level 100, in record time. He hadn’t been able to reach the SS rank because he had failed to pass the promotion evaluation, but…

‘Even so, he is one of the top five in Japan.’

The record growth boost had been at 130% just before Nioh had revealed his skills. It was the same as the current rate of Yu-Seong’s Star Factor skill. However, unlike Nioh and others with growth acceleration skills, Yu-Seong had an additional effect.

'Reducing the experience points requirements for leveling up.' 

Everyone knew that even more experience points were required as the rank and level got higher. However, Choi Yu-Seong could reduce the percentages of such penalties by unlocking the Star Factor skills’ additional privileges.

The gains from this were inevitably greater since they increased proportionately with higher ranks and levels. If the experience points required to level up from D-rank, level 79, was 100,000, then a 5 percent decrease could save 5,000 experience points. If the same decrease was maintained for 20 levels, it was no different from gaining one additional level.

Of course, it was technically impossible, because the experience required to level up would gradually increase as the level rose. Still, the accumulation of these gains could never be underestimated.

1. It’s worth noting that although Choi Seok-Young is In-Young’s older brother, he speaks very politely and formally to her—almost as if he’s the younger sibling. ☜