‘What’s wrong with him?’

He acted a bit different from the Kim Hyun-Sung that I knew because he wasn’t really the type of person to show his emotions. The only time I saw him show such a big reaction was when he first discovered Jung Ha-Yan and that only lasted for a moment.

‘What the...’

I thought maybe he caught on to what we did to Park Hye-Young, but he wasn’t looking at me or Jung Ha-Yan. I was sure that he was looking at Jung Jin-Ho.

This was my first time seeing him like this.

Jung Jin-Ho wasn’t using magic or anything, but Kim Hyun-Sung’s eyes were definitely filled with hostility. His eyes and expression were on guard, his hands and feet were slightly trembling and most of all, he looked very serious.

‘He knows Jung Jin-Ho.’

Of course, there was no way for me to know exactly how he knew Jung Jin-Ho, but if I were to think as simple as possible, there was a good chance that they once had an ill-fated relationship in a future that I wasn’t aware of.

Kim Hyun-Sung didn’t have the ability to see other people’s status window like me, so I was sure he wasn’t keeping his guard up because he knew about Jung Jin-Ho’s calculative killer nature.

Jung Jin-Ho’s presence alone made him feel uncomfortable to the point that he was showing hostility towards him.

Even moments later, Kim Hyun-Sung was looking at Jung Jin-Ho cautiously.

It was probably embarrassing for Jung Jin-Ho to extend his hand out for a handshake, but he looked at Kim Hyun-Sung with a bright smile. If I saw his face without knowing his nature, I would have just thought of him as a good person.

When I saw the stupefied look on Kim Hyun-Sung’s face, I spoke as I tapped his arm.

“Mr. Hyun-Sung.”

“Oh…I’m sorry. My name is Kim Hyun-Sung,” he said.

I saw Jung Jin-Ho and Kim Hyun-Sung lightly touching each other’s hands, but for some reason, Hyun-Sung’s tightly clenched fist kept standing out.

‘Killer…killer…’

Jung Jin-Ho’s nature was a calculative killer and we even had a subtle confrontation before Kim Hyun-Sung arrived.

Based on Kim Hyun-Sung’s reaction after seeing Jung Jin-Ho, I was able to come up with a few different assumptions.

These were the assumptions I came up with under the condition that Jung Jin-Ho was a psychotic killer. One, he either killed Kim Hyun-Sung or the people around him. Or two, there was a good chance that they never actually met and Kim Hyun-Sung simply heard rumors about him. The first assumption was less likely because despite killing him or his friends, Kim Hyun-Sung was still able to maintain his self-control. If my first assumption was true despite this, then he deserved to be called a saint instead of a pushover.

Based on my standards, Kim Hyun-Sung was close to a saint, but it had nothing to do with the current situation.

There was a good chance that he was being conscious of me, Park Deok-Gu, Jung Ha-Yan, and the people inside the shelter. If that were the case, then he had probably already stabbed Jung Jin-Ho dozens of times in his head because I would have done the same thing.

“I’ll introduce myself again. My name is Jung Jin-Ho and I’ve heard a lot about you from Mr. Seok-Woo. He told me that you are the one managing the shelter…”

“I just happened to find these survivors by chance,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“I heard that you have been working hard to rescue people,” Jung Jin-Ho said.

“Oh, yes…”

“I think you’re really amazing. Mr. Seok-Woo told me a few times that you were strong, but…really…you’re stronger than I thought. Would it be okay if I asked what your stats are?” Jung Jin-Ho asked.

That useless Yoo Seok-Woo must have told them everything.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you,” Kim Hyun-Sung answered.

“Oh! If you’re uncomfortable, then you don’t have to tell me. We came from the starting point not too far from here and since we couldn’t find any survivors there, we wandered around and coincidentally found Mr. Seok-Woo,” Jung Jin-Ho explained.

“Is that so?” he asked.

“Yes and I have told Mr. Ki-Young this earlier, but I never imagined that there would be so many survivors here,” he said to Kim Hyun-Sung.

Kim Hyun-Sung’s expression remained the same. It was the usual expression he had when he didn’t have his guard up or wasn’t facing enemies hostile to him. Since he had already been through this once, I knew he was used to hiding his feelings, but Kim Hyun-Sung was calmer than I imagined.

I didn’t know how a pushover like him was able to take care of so many survivors, but I was sure that a past I didn’t know of was holding him back.

I had to reflect on my words when I thought about how the first assumption was less likely to be true.

Kim Hyun-Sung was used to controlling his emotions more than I imagined, but despite that, I wanted to believe that my second assumption had a higher chance of being true than the first one.

‘Rumors or stories about Jung Jin-Ho.’

Jung Jin-Ho’s potential was through the roof. If I were to compare him to a game, it was as if the foundation for leveling up was already laid there for him. Considering his nature, there was a good chance that he could become a known killer or criminal in the future. If that happened, then he would surely cause an uproar in the world.

My second assumption was that just like how I felt like Kim Hyun-Sung would have underlings in the future, Jung Jin-Ho may also become a famous criminal in the future and Kim Hyun-Sung had either heard of him or had seen him personally. Of course, there was also the possibility that their roles had switched, but considering their nature, it was unlikely and it was also difficult to imagine a Kim Hyun-Sung who enjoyed killing.

“If it’s not too much trouble, will it be okay if we join you here?” Jung Jin-Ho asked.

“...”

“We have supplies on us as well, so I’m sure we can all eat it together for a few days. Of course, if you guys don’t like us then…”

I contemplated for a moment, but Kim Hyun-Sung nodded.

“No, we always welcome survivors, so we’ll guide you inside,” he answered.

“Oh, thank you,” Jung Jin-Ho said.

His answer came as a shock to me.

“Deok-Gu, help Miss Ji-Hye with guiding these people…”

“Hyung-nim, will it be okay? Just now, we…”

“It doesn’t matter, Deok-Gu. If something happens, call me right away,” I said, interrupting him.

“Ugh, if you say so hyung-nim…everyone, follow me. This place isn’t that comfortable to live in, but it’ll be better than wandering out there,” Park Deok-Gu said.

Kim Hyun-Sung’s decision was unexpected, but it was a reasonable choice at the same time because I was sure that he was aware of the saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. That was a part that I also agreed with.

If Jung Jin-Ho was simply a crazy psycho, it would be best not to let him in the shelter, but seeing how he back down after Kim Hyun-Sung appeared, it made me think that he was a thinker. Actually, he kind of seemed like a selfish person.

I couldn’t feel the ominous and delicate atmosphere I felt before this, so Jung Jin-Ho probably took a step back because he believed that he didn’t have a chance when Kim Hyun-Sung appeared. It was possible that he had no intention of attacking me and Park Deok-Gu, but before Kim Hyun-Sung appeared, the nervousness that I felt was real.

‘Thanks.’

Despite that, I was really thankful towards Kim Hyun-Sung. I couldn’t help but smile as the corner of my lips automatically went up.

If Jung Jin-Ho was calculative, then we can use him in some way.

‘We can use him. We can definitely use him in this situation.’

It was a pretty random situation, but it wasn’t a bad idea, no, I might just be the luckiest person on earth.

The fact that I almost escalated the situation earlier disappeared from my head.

‘Thanks, Jung Jin-Ho, you bastard.’

His appearance here was in a way good for me.

When I slightly turned my head, I saw Kim Hyun-Sung. He looked a little dazed.

“Let’s head inside, Mr. Hyun-Sung,” I said.

“You can go ahead, I’m going to stay out here for a little bit,” he told me.

He looked like he had a lot on his mind, and it was the same for me. However, I had to continue my conversation with him here because doing that was going to be a lot more effective.

“Do you know him?” I asked.

“Oh.”

“I asked because, for some reason, you seemed like you knew that person,” I explained.

Kim Hyun-Sung looked like he was contemplating, but he answered after nodding. “I guess…you can say that I know a little bit about him, but he probably doesn’t know about me. We just briefly passed by each other a long time ago…” he said.

“Oh, so that was the kind of connection you guys had,” I commented.

“You can’t really call it a connection because like I said, all we did was just pass by each other. Regarding Mr. Jung Jin-Ho, could you…”

“Of course, I won’t say anything to him,” I said, finishing his sentence.

Keeping a secret was the most important part of counseling.

I continued talking with a calm expression.

At first, it was just a formal story and he must have realized that he was being rude after what I said because he quickly continued talking. Kim Hyun-Sung somewhat came back to his senses.

“I knew you would be safe, but you really returned. As expected, you’re amazing.”

“No, I was just lucky. It was a bit difficult, but…I was able to return by taking a detour that was as far away as possible from the monsters. Now that I think about it, I’m relieved that you’re back here safe. Did you run into any trouble on your way back?”

“Actually, there’s something I need to tell you about,” I said, before giving him the chance to continue.

“Yes?”

“Miss Hye-Young is dead,” I said.

He was going to find out sooner or later anyway.

I felt like my head was going to explode right now because of Jung Jin-Ho, but bringing this up in this situation was reasonable. Kim Hyun-Sung looked slightly shocked and even though he wasn’t used to people dying, he slowly nodded.

Thankfully, he didn’t seem like he was suspicious of me.

I could tell that this was the case when I asked him earlier whether he ran into any trouble. When I noticed that his expression remained unchanged, it became certain to me that he didn’t find Park Hye-Young’s corpse or any traces of it.

“I see. How…”

“Magic,” I said.

“Excuse me?”

“It was an unknown magic,” I said.

“Magic?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m sure of it. I can’t say exactly what it was since my level is pretty low, but it was definitely magic. Although, I don’t think there’s any magic remaining there…” I explained.

“Oh…”

“While running with Deok-Gu, I noticed that Miss Ha-Yan and Miss Hye-Young got separated from us. I was reciting a spell back then, so I didn’t really know what was going on around me. I was at my limit during that time because I was trying to maintain the spell I was reciting…” I said.

“I see,” Kim Hyun-Sung said.

“When I found them later, I saw Miss Hye-Young dying with her limbs severed. I think I felt traces of magic…I did manage to find Ha-Yan somehow since she was nearby…but I don’t know exactly what happened,” I told him.

“Her limbs were severed?” Kim Hyun-Sung asked.

“Yes, they were. I thought maybe she got caught in a trap that was installed in the dungeon, but…”

There weren’t any traps and despite knowing that, he repeated what I said.

“A trap…”

“Yes, I honestly wanted to bring Miss Hye-Young’s body back, but I had no time to…I thought it would be better to burn her body rather than letting the monsters eat her, so I…” I explained.

I was sure that he knew what I was saying.

I burned Park Hye-Young’s body.

Being as honest as possible was the best since the situation was different from yesterday and compared to the nice, innocent Jung Ha-Yan, a more proper suspect appeared.

I thought to myself again.

‘Thanks, Magic Swordsman Jung Jin-Ho.’

The culprit has been decided.

The psychopath killer, Jung Jin-Ho, that bastard was the culprit!