The Man with Hypnotic Powers Doesn’t Hold Back the Second Time Around

Chapter 182

After concluding the opening speech with a strangely international-sounding line,
the mood of the summoned Awakened shifted dramatically.

Originally, they had a “I’ll do it because I’m told to” level of motivation, but…

• "Igli-igli."

‘Ugh. Their gazes are burning hot.’

After the speech, their enthusiasm was sky-high.
The way they looked at me was almost as if flames were burning in their eyes.

Well, that was to be expected.
I had diligently sold the idea of the association’s chairmanship, after all.
They were all united by the desire to avenge the Chairperson!
I guess it was bound to happen.

• Ding.
  [Skill 'Perfect Hypnosis' is…]

‘That hypnosis incitement mode really worked wonders.’

There was something extra, too.
During the speech, I subtly sprinkled hypnosis here and there.
Nothing too fancy—just a little suggestion like, "You’re angry, right? You want to take revenge, right?"

Thanks to that, the Awakened were easily incited.
Even though I’m still young, and I’m talking about revenge, they were genuinely moved, applauding like they believed in it.

It worked out in my favor.

‘The actual chairperson is probably just drinking ginseng liquor in bed, but whatever.’

And with that, the opening ceremony was successfully concluded.
The remaining events, mostly pointless things like progress reports, would follow according to the schedule with the chairperson and the others.

I turned away carelessly.
I had no interest in the morning events.

• Step.

‘Maybe I should just patrol for now.’

There was only one event I needed to attend today.
The one-on-one sparring matches between the cadets happening in the afternoon.

Until then, I planned to just patrol the area.
To search for Pyemon.

…She’s probably deliberately hiding her presence.
She’s so careful that it’s almost impossible to detect her.
She’s probably using perception-distorting hypnosis on the surroundings as well.

In other words, unless Pyemon intentionally reveals herself,
the only way to find her beforehand is for me to spot her with my own eyes.

Someone like Sibylla can’t break through her hypnosis.
And if someone dangerous like my mentor approaches, she’ll commit suicide without a second thought.

Really, thinking about it again, she’s a real pain in the ass as a gimmick boss.

• Step, step.

‘Well then, I guess I’ll have to go around sneaking around on my own…’

I headed back to the Chairperson’s office.
The association staff, who had been gathered since dawn, my temporary bodyguards, greeted me.

“Chairman Seo Yujin, that was a wonderful speech!”
“Truly a display of the Chairperson’s qualities…”

‘Why does calling me the Chairperson feel so off?’

Their flattery felt like something a professor would say to a graduate student they’re trying to persuade.
But… this is probably just a misunderstanding, right?
They’re not actually thinking I’m the next Chairperson, are they?
To them, I’m just a fox acting like the king while Seol Hayeon is temporarily out of the picture.

In other words, these are just nice words, empty compliments.
I shouldn’t take them literally.

“Thank you. It’s all thanks to everyone at the association helping me.”
“Such modesty!”
“Though it might sound strange, I actually think you might be better than the senior…”
“The senior is always so critical, saying things like, ‘Do better, why are you even sitting here at your age?’”

‘It’s empty flattery, right? But maybe there’s a little sincerity?’

Maybe because they’re the high-ranking staff that the Chairperson used to command, their words held some genuine feeling. Anyway,
I clapped once and then met their eyes.

“Please don’t flatter me. I’m still very far from being as capable as the Chairperson.”

• Ding.
  [Skill 'Perfect Hypnosis' is…]

“Still, thank you. I’m relieved I haven’t caused any trouble for that person.”
[Skill…]

“Well, I’ll leave the rest of the day to you.”
[‘Perfect Hypnosis’ is activated!]

“Yes!!!”

Their eyes became drowsy with every glance I made.
This was proof that the hypnosis was working perfectly.

A smile spread across my face.

“Well then, sorry, but I’ll be taking a nap until the afternoon. I’m really exhausted.”
“Understood! We’ll keep you completely guarded…”

“Oh, no need to be so concerned. If you think someone else is behind me, you’ll get tense and mess up, so just don’t worry about me.”

“No, that won’t happen.”

“Just pretend I’m invisible. If I snore or toss and turn in bed, just pretend I’m not here.”

I quickly inserted more hypnosis.
This was a type of perception-distortion hypnosis.
It would make them unaware of anything I did, preventing any sense of discomfort.

The effect was clear.

“Yes, yes…”
“……”

• Whizzing sounds.
  Tickle, tickle.

‘Okay. It worked.’

The Awakened around me, their eyes glazed over, showed no response to anything I did.
I waved my hands in front of their faces, pinched their cheeks, even tickled their armpits with my hands.
They didn’t react at all.
It was as if they couldn’t even register my existence or the changes I was causing.

In this state, whether I undressed them, massaged their chest, or did anything else,
no one would notice.

‘Alright then…’

• Smirk.

In this situation, the only thing the hypnosis-incitement man could do was one thing.
My steps became naturally stealthy.
And as I quietly moved toward them…

• Squeak.

“I’m going on patrol~.”

I rushed past and ran off.
…Because if I didn’t use hypnosis, they would’ve followed me.
They’d have said something like, “Where are you going alone? We’ll guard you.”

Honestly, it was annoying.
Unless someone like Seol Hayeon, who has a wide-range detection system, was after me,
she had no reason to target me.
There was no real danger for me.

Well, actually, if something happened, she might even protect me.
Her main goal today was to have a sparring match with me and my mentor.
If anything happened, she might let me die after the fight, to make it look like an accident.

So, searching for Pyemon…
I would track her location, while she’s quietly hiding somewhere.
And if possible, I’d ambush her with my mentor. If that didn’t work, I’d lure her to the extermination site.

• Swish, swish.

‘Come on, Pyemon. Come out already.’

I ran quickly.
Once lunch was over, I wouldn’t have the freedom to move as the temporary chairman, so I had to find her before that.

The first place I went was the large auditorium I had just passed through.

• Squeak.

“……!!? Someone’s infiltrating.”
“Don’t worry. It’s the hypnosis-incitement guy.”

• Ding.
  [Skill 'Perfect Hypnosis' is…]

“…Was it the wind?”

The security didn’t even notice me.
Thanks to the perception-distortion hypnosis I had spread around.

…Pyemon must have done the same thing to get in unnoticed.
My mouth turned a bit bitter.

‘Anyway. First, let’s check the seats.’

• Step, step.

After that, I began thoroughly scanning every seat in the auditorium.
I had already glanced over it before, but the camera flashes and the excitement of the Awakened made it hard to see clearly.
Some of them might be disguised, so I was planning to check each person one by one.

‘Oh, father. Please look after our Shia nicely today.’
‘Why are his clothes so wrinkled? I should straighten them out.’
‘This one... Oh, this outfit is perfect. It would suit my mentor so well. Where's it from?’

• Pat, pat, flick.

“...?”

There were so many people that I got distracted in the middle.
I briefly shook hands with my father-in-law, straightened out a senior Awakened’s clothes, and checked out a shirt’s brand.
It wasn’t much, just messing around since I was in stealth mode.

Of course, I made sure it didn’t interfere with my search.

‘Here... the seat is empty, but it's still warm.’

• Pat, pat.

“Hey, where did the person who was sitting here go?”
“That seat was always empty… wait? Did I just hear someone’s voice?”

“Okay. Got it.”

The clue was found quickly.
An unusually empty seat. A discarded ice cream stick nearby. Testimonies collected through hypnosis.
All of it pointed to "Pyemon was here."

The place where she could’ve been hiding, right under the podium, confirmed my suspicion.
I quickly followed the trace.

“When was the last time this door was opened? Nobody left, so it must have opened by itself.”
“About ten minutes ago, and thirty minutes ago...”
“The first one was me. The second one was Pyemon. Thanks.”

I must’ve left immediately after the speech.
Knowing the sparring wouldn’t happen until the afternoon, she probably lost interest and left.
She likely hasn’t gone too far.
There’s no real need to leave the academy once she’s successfully infiltrated.
She’s probably killing time somewhere nearby.

I quickly set off again.

• Whoosh!!

‘Where is my town drum? If you come out now, you won’t be forced to do PT exercises~.’

A whirlwind blew across the academy.
The genuine S-Class Awakened’s rush created enough wind to whip up a storm.

Not quite Sonic Boom level, but it was fast enough to circle the academy in no time.

Just 20 minutes.
That’s how long it took me to check everything with my own eyes.

And still, no sign of Pyemon.

Pause.

‘Is this the last place? Did she… go outside?’

I halted for a moment.
I thought I had checked everywhere, but an unexpected thought crossed my mind.
I had failed to visit one place, a place I hadn’t even considered before.

• The Women’s Restroom.

‘Could it be? Did Pyemon hide there because there was nowhere else to go…?’

[Hiiik! Heeek!! My overwhelming, overwhelming magical power!!!]

‘...It’s possible!!’

If it’s someone like Pyemon, that makes sense.
I could feel a sense of certainty growing within me.
With this conviction, I made my way toward the restricted area to finish what I started.

• Beep, beep.

“Ah, Sibylla, come here for a moment.”
[...What?]
“Don’t ask, just hurry. By the fountain.”

I called Sibylla to help with the search.
I didn’t want to go in there myself.
It felt awkward, like a man walking into a lingerie shop.
Just imagining it made me feel uncomfortable.

That’s why I used my temporary summoned slave, Sibylla.
She was there in three minutes.

“Yujin, what’s going on?”
[Please search inside. Pyemon might be hiding in there.]
[…Understood.]

She immediately went in.
It felt like I was sending a scout unit in an RTS game, like when you send a unit to explore.

[No one’s in there.]
[Are you sure you checked every single stall? Even the locked ones?]
[Of course. No one’s there.]
[Hmm. Let’s check somewhere else. There are other restrooms around.]
[Okay…]

***

[There’s no sign of Pyemon, not even a trace.]
[Hmph.]

There was no significant progress.
No matter where I searched, no one was to be found.
Not even a hint of Pyemon.

So, this time, I was about to give up on the search...

'Give up? No way.'

How many women are wandering around the academy right now? There’s no one in the restroom? Not even a locked stall?
I’d believe that once, maybe twice, but to believe it now? No chance.

It made more sense to assume that Pyemon had hypnotized Sibylla.
A simple hypnosis—making her confuse a closed stall with a cleaning supply closet—would be an easy trick.

So, I…

[Sorry, Sibylla. I’ll need to borrow your body for a bit.]
[What? Wait, what the…!!!? What the fxxk!!?]
“Hoo.”

I quickly took control of Sibylla’s body.
Leaving her consciousness aside, I took full control of her physical being.

Step, step.
“Hehe… you’re like a local drum in a trap, Pyemon…”
[What are you doing? Give me back my body!!!]

She’s being so noisy.
It’s not like using her body will wear it out, so I might as well borrow it for a bit.