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

Chapter 215

An unprecedented disaster.
The EX-Rank gate opened in the sky, as named by Seol Hayeon.
What were the monsters pouring out of that gate like?
They were like phantoms, where even if you attacked, it wouldn’t touch them, but they were still attacking.

Their level wasn’t that high; an A-rank Awakened could defend against them easily.
However…

‘So what if they can’t be attacked?’

The fact that they couldn’t be attacked meant that they couldn’t be defeated.
There was no fundamental solution.

Hundreds of such monsters, and the number continued to grow.

The morale of the Awakened decreased steadily.
Some were even contemplating fleeing, thinking that complete annihilation was only a matter of time…

[Attention all units. As of this moment, the frontline defense operation is canceled. The monsters will be led to Headquarters, Seo Yujin.]

"…?"
‘Seo Yujin?’

Just as I was about to escape, I heard the order.
The monsters were to be led to Seo Yujin, the S-rank 7th.

How did the Awakened react to that?
They were half in doubt.
They felt suspicious, thinking that this was fundamentally a hopeless situation.
Especially those who had seen Yujin’s PTSD symptoms.

Some even raised doubts to Kong, the specialist in tackling gates.

"Boss? Are you really sure? I saw PTSD up in the sky earlier."
[Bui Kwon, have I ever disappointed you?]
"...No, Boss."
[Then follow my lead. You’ll witness something incredible.]

The response was simply to follow the orders.
It was a command delivered with a firm certainty.
The Awakened had no choice but to follow it.

And the monsters they led here…
After hours of trying to deal with them, the creatures that couldn’t even be scratched…

[Graaahhhsshhkk!!!]
"Boss!! The monsters from other parties got drawn into this!"

-Whoosh. Slash.

"———Huh?"

The moment they arrived, the monster’s head was severed.
Just like that, without any premonition.

‘What’s going on… What is that?’
‘Seo Yujin?’

It took the Awakened a while to realize what had happened.
Yujin had killed the monsters.
But the way he moved was so hard to comprehend.

-Swish. Shoom.

‘Teleportation? No, his unique power is hypnosis…’
‘He’s like a ghost.’

Yujin’s form was blurry.
The body that had changed after kissing Aika.
He was starting to use that to its fullest extent.

To reduce air resistance during movement, he was in a soul-like state.
Only when attacking the monsters did he briefly solidify to strike.

To the untrained eye, it looked like teleportation. He appeared in one place and then the next in an instant.
In the spots where he passed, only violet traces from his Zahaken technique remained.

‘And the speed… He’s faster than Ninomiya Aika.’
‘No. His speed might be similar, but the level is different. If she moved like that, the surrounding area would be devastated by a sonic boom. But he’s silent.’
‘What is his agility stat at?!’

Even his speed was incredibly fast.
His stats had now clearly surpassed 10.
His status window supported the fact that he had transcended the limitations of a mortal.

In other words, what they were witnessing was a being who was no longer human, with abilities that had transcended human physical limits.

It was a sight that made them unable to look away in awe.

"That’s amazing…"

-Muttering.

"Bocchikkong. Those Vietnamese girls are slacking off, huh? Are you just going to let them have fun?"
"Well, it’s impressive. Yujin right now."
"That’s true, but still."
"They’re better than our troops. Sitting back and watching… Where did they even get the popcorn?"
"Ugh, I’d love some."

Even the S-rankers couldn’t help but feel awed.
Kong, Seol Hayeon, and Sybilla were all mesmerized.

No, it was even more mysterious to them.
They knew, more than anyone, that his battle abilities had entered the realm of something beyond human.

‘And his expression… I’ve never seen Yujin like this. He looks so cool…!!’
‘He’s fighting with such calmness, not even boasting. Truly, a man worthy of the recognition of the President.’

The three of them were praising Yujin without restraint…

‘Oh, no. What if Alice and Shia have regained their memories? I’m sure they’ve figured out everything I was trying to do with Master. Plus, they’ve probably been furious this whole time, especially since I’ve kept it all a secret.’
"……."
‘This guy… even now, he’s thinking about the women, huh?’

Seol Hayeon, who had read Yujin’s mind, couldn’t hide her discomfort, but still…

Despite all the admiration from the others, the number of monsters was quickly decreasing.
Thanks to Kong’s skillful command, who could foresee the future.

By the time the last monster was dealt with, the dawn was breaking.

"Kong. Next..."
"They’re all gone. The frequency of the monsters falling has been steadily decreasing."
"What? Why?"
"I don’t know. Maybe they’re scared now, since you’re hunting them?"
"……."
‘Well, before my regression, I couldn’t even kill a single one.’

Only then did Yujin release his grip.
There was a look of undeniable relief on his face, one he couldn’t hide.
He had faced his trauma and dealt with it.

-Glance.

‘So now, what about Alice and Shia?’

He didn’t feel much relief.
It was because of his wives.

After all, what had he done right before the fight?
He had fled with Aika.
Right in front of his two girlfriends, he’d had the audacity to "kidnap" a third wife.

And after he took her away, what did he do?
He was about to perform the "fatherly duties" of a stud.
He couldn’t feel righteous about it.

‘I really hope they’ve regained their memories, but why does it have to be right now…?’

Another thought occurred to him.
After kissing Aika, hadn’t her memories returned?
All the memories from their first life together.

So, with his wives, who he had already kissed—Shia and Alice—
It was reasonable to assume that their memories had returned as well.

Now, how would they see him?
After all, he was the one who fled with his third wife right after the EX-Rank gate opened.

‘Well, maybe they’ll forgive me? I could explain that it was necessary to stop the apocalypse…’

-Glance.

‘Alice is glaring at me!! She’s ready to go full throttle!!!’

Just looking at Alice’s eyes, it was clear.
Both of his wives were seriously angry.

‘You promised we’d do it after the break, but you already did it with Shia? And now, it seems like you did it with that boar as well…’
‘Ugh. Our unruly wife is really pissed now. Good luck, husband.’

Of course, it was only Alice who was seriously mad.
Shia was more indifferent, watching it all unfold.

-Stammering.

‘Is it over now? Can I finally finish the "baby-making" with my disciple…?’

Aika, who was focused on something else, didn’t seem to care.
But, anyway.

So, even after the long battle was over, Yujin kept hesitating.
He was acting like someone who had done something wrong.

"……?"
‘With his personality, shouldn’t he be bragging by now? Saying something like, ‘Did you see that? I’m the man’?’
‘Yujin, why do you look like a puppy who broke a cup? What happened to the great hero?’

To the others, it looked rather odd.

Meanwhile, Kong and Sybilla realized something.
The strange technique Yujin had just displayed, the one where he kept disappearing and reappearing.

The reason Yujin hesitated was probably because of that.

‘Is it the same thing as the monsters?’
‘He uses it much better…’
‘Is he worried he’s become a monster too?’

-Snicker.

"Hey, Yujin~ You did a great job!"

Kong was the first to approach.
He thought that he, as Yujin’s friend, should play this role.

Kong moved toward him, without a hint of fear.
His unwavering steps were surprisingly moving.

"…Kong? Ah, yeah. Thanks."
"But why the gloomy face… Hey!!"

-Whoosh. Zoom.

The hand that was about to pat Yujin on the back passed right through him.

Kong’s smile grew a bit awkward.
Seeing his once human friend now displaying the same phenomenon as the monsters,
Even Kong, no matter how close they were, couldn’t help but feel a bit scared…

"Wow, what’s this? I can’t touch you?"
"...Kong?"

-Whoosh. Whoosh.

"It feels like a hologram… Wait, now I can touch you?"

Kong’s fear couldn’t stop him.
He eagerly continued to feel Yujin’s body, wanting to assure himself, but in doing so, he only showed how intrigued he was.
Yujin didn’t feel scared. He was more fascinated by the situation.
And Kong kept pressing the point to make sure.

‘Hehe, hehe. I’ve seen him at the bathhouse, but this guy has surprisingly good muscle tone…’
"Don’t blush while touching other men’s chest. It’s cute, but it’s annoying."

-Startled.

"Ugh, huh?! No, that’s not what I meant!"

Though there was a slight bit of ulterior motive in the process,
and though there was some surprise at touching a body so different from his own…

-Snicker.

"It’s really cool though~ See, I can make a sword at will! I can even make things like spoons or chopsticks. Ta-da!"

Thanks to that, Yujin began to relax.
Actually, he even started showing off, proudly creating one thing after another.

His gaze subtly lingered on Alice.

"Pretty amazing, right? Isn’t it awesome? There’s even more incredible stuff…"
‘Okay, let’s play this off. First, show something cool to calm the wives down, then I can slip away and talk to them when the mood is right.’

Though the inner thoughts were a bit clumsy, at least it worked.
Everyone’s eyes were now focused directly on Yujin.
Those watching couldn’t help but gather around.

The atmosphere was filled with awe.

"Wow, how did you do that, Yujin?"
"What’s with this vanishing and reappearing? What in the world did you do to make that happen?"

The first to step forward were the two S-rank Awakened, Seol Hayeon and Sybilla.

Their gazes were fixed on Yujin.
They were silently demanding an explanation for what was happening.

For Yujin, that response was actually quite comfortable.

"Well, the explanation is a bit complicated. By the way, where’s the Saintess?"
"If you mean the Saintess, she’s with Winterer and Haru."
"Dad, the deer’s here."

[‘???’ muttered something about being a dragon, not a deer…]

"Oh. Thank you, Haru."

-Snatch.

Yujin picked up the Saintess.

Unlike Haru, who had been carefully cradling her like a doll, Yujin grabbed her by the neck and yanked her up, holding her in a posture that clearly looked uncomfortable.

It seemed to hurt her, as her mouth, which had been bent into a ? shape, twitched.
That was exactly what Yujin had intended.

"As you can see, I’ve managed to make contact with the Saintess. I can also attack the monsters now."
"We can see that, but how did you do it? Is this something we can do too?"
"Probably not. My body’s changed to resemble the Saintess and the monsters. I’m in a half-soul state right now."
"…What?"
"It’s hard to explain…"

Yujin continued holding the Saintess and elaborated.
This time, he didn’t grab her by the neck, but supported her like a baby, gently cradling her bottom.
It was as if he were handling something precious.

‘Hypnosis-chan mentioned ‘Mom’. This must be her. I’ll have to show the proper respect.’

-Pause.

‘Yujin. That hand’s in a pretty inappropriate place, isn’t it…?’
‘If this were America, we'd be hearing ‘FBI, open up!’ right about now.’
‘Is she wearing underwear?’

The expressions of those watching turned slightly strange.
The Saintess’s face turned bright red.
She was clearly embarrassed, and that made it difficult to avoid thinking that it looked inappropriate.

Of course, Yujin didn’t care at all.
To him, the Saintess’s face wasn’t even in view, so it didn’t matter.

‘Now that I think about it, she really is like an empty doll. Is her soul even there? It’s like a bag of chips with just a sprinkle of truffle oil, not much substance.’

-Squish.

He even began touching her feet and legs, checking for any abnormalities in the Saintess’s unique state after the seal was broken.
The soft, squishy texture felt oddly pleasant.

As for how it looked… well, that was a different matter.

"……!!!"
‘Yujin, your hands are kind of…?! Isn’t that what we saw in the ‘Eye of the Beholder’?!’

No one was more surprised than Alice, his girlfriend.
She began seriously doubting Yujin’s preferences.
‘Could this be why he hugged Shia first!?’

However, Yujin, a perfectly decent young man, had no idea what kind of impression he was giving.
He didn’t see the Saintess as a woman, nor even as a person. He didn’t realize how his actions were being interpreted.

Then…

"Ah, her heart’s not beating. I think it’s the same as with the Saintess."

-Snatch. Fumble.

[……!!!!!?]
"Yep, it’s not beating."

Yujin had just poured fuel on the fire.
By confirming with his own hands whether or not the Saintess’s heart was beating, he triggered a reaction he didn’t intend.

-Flail!!

[AH, AAAHH!!?]

The Saintess flailed her arms and legs in shock, and…

"Hey, hey! Calm down…"
"Stop, Saintess! What are you doing?!"
"Shia? No, I was just checking her heart."
"Let go, you crazy man!! No more sexual harassment!"

Shia, who knew the Saintess’s true identity as a Constellation, was horrified and pulled Yujin away.

Thanks to her, the Saintess was freed again, but…

-Tremble. Thud.

[W-well… this is the first time in tens of thousands of years I’ve had to go through something like this…]
"See! The Saintess doesn’t like it!!"
"Why do you keep calling her ‘Saintess’… Wait, why does she look like that?!"

The Saintess’s legs gave out, and she collapsed.
Her face was as red as a tomato.

Yujin’s guilt quickly overtook him.

"It’s true, though! Everything from those days… all of it was real!"

Now, memories he thought were his alone were flooding back.
He never expected the wives to remember, but to his surprise, their memories were returning, too.

"I thought you’d forgotten everything…"
"Wait. Are you really saying all of that was real?"
"Yes!!!"

-Mutter.

"That time when I got scolded for the hole in the condom, and when I wore cat ears and tried to act cute without one? Was all of that real too?"
"Eh?"
"Oh, never mind!!"

Though it was clearly an awkward situation, Alice had no choice but to confront it.
And to Shia’s pure question, Winterer answered, using knowledge she’d picked up during her villain days.

Lastly…

"Wow, Dad’s totally messed up. Not even human."
"……."

The final blow came from Haru’s innocent 100% evaluation.
The words "not even human" hit Yujin hard.

"No! This is unfair! I was just trying to explain my traits…"
"……."
"Kong, why do you look at me like that!? You know as a man that she doesn’t look like a woman!!"
"……."
"Sybilla, stop glaring! You know what I’m talking about, right? Don’t look at me like that!!"

Yujin’s frustrated voice echoed through the academy.

"I swear, I don’t have those kinds of preferences!!"
[If I try to engage with you in this body, it’ll rupture…]
"Saintess, stop reacting like that!!"

To be honest, it wasn’t completely unfair.