Chương 77: QUIET ALLEY (3)

Suddenly, a few areas of Ba-reum's body began to bulge. It was subtle at first. But then-. His shoulders bulged unnaturally, as if something inside was trying to push its way out. Veins surfaced across his neck and temples, thick and writhing like living things. His face distorted, jaw stretching wider than it should, skin tightening to the point it looked like it might tear at any second. Jimin's eyes widened.

"What-" The word barely left his lips. Right then- A figure appeared at the other end of the alley. The driver. His gun was already raised, ready to shoot. But the moment his eyes landed on Ba-reum, he froze.

"What… The Hell!!!" His voice echoed through the narrow alley, as he saw Ba-reum in that horrifying and grotesque state. And right then- BOOM. Ba-reum's entire body exploded. A violent eruption of thick, purple liquid burst outward in all directions, splattering the walls, the ground, everything. It was dense, hot and disturbingly Gooey. Jimin reacted instantly, concentrating his telekinetic barrier in front of him just in time. The liquid slammed against it, spreading across its invisible surface.

Jimin managed to block it completely. But a few stray splashes happened to get on the legs of the driver, who was standing far away.

"AHHH!!" He screamed immediately.

"Fuck… It's burning! It's burning!" Without hesitation, he tore off his pants, tossing them aside, revealing red burns already forming on his legs. His hands shook as he pulled out a vial from his storage ring and chugged it down. Meanwhile- Jimin didn't move. He stood there, eyes fixed on the spot where Ba-reum had been just moments ago. But now only his scattered purple residue remained. What… was that? His mind struggled to process what he had just witnessed. That was the most grotesque thing I've ever seen.

He just exploded… Right after I forced him to answer. His stomach churned slightly. Then- The purple stuff started vaporizing suddenly. Jimin's brows furrowed. What now…? It's just vaporizing. It vaporized until there were no traces left of Ba-reum, his clothes or items. Nothing. Jimin suddenly realized something. Was this… to erase evidence? He exploded, because my question triggered something… A defense mechanism to protect a secret. The realization hit him like a cold wave.

Whoever's behind all this, they are incredibly dangerous. They don't leave any loose ends. Not even their own people. By then, the driver had somewhat stabilized himself. He stood there in his boxers, breathing heavily, legs still trembling slightly from the burns. He raised his gun again, aiming directly at Jimin.

"What did you do to him… you demon?" he shouted, his expression screaming a mix of rage and fear, eyes wide open. He didn't blink once. But Jimin didn't say a word. He just didn't know what to say. He shot a burst of 3 bullets back to back. But to his surprise, the bullets slowed and eventually stopped mid-air, right in front of Jimin. Shit. His grip tightened instinctively. Is it a one-time defense type skill… Or is it telekinesis? I did see him controlling a dagger earlier. There's a chance… This is bad.

Jimin sighed. Damnit. Stopping the bullets was so damn hard. I need complete focus. Right then- the driver shot again, emptying the gun this time. Jimin concentrated on his barrier. Damn these bullets. Stolen story; please report. But he managed to stop those as well. The driver had enough of it. Shit. It's telekinesis. I gotta run. He immediately tried to run toward the alley exit, as he put the gun into his ring.

Jimin noticed it and immediately returned the bullets with extreme speed and precision, hitting the driver in the legs right before he vanished from his sight.

"AAAGH!" He screamed out of pain, as he fell flat on his face. Jimin was still leaning against the wall. He reeled the driver in like a fish, dragging him across the ground by his leg, using telekinesis. The driver groaned and tried to resist by scraping against the concrete, but failed. Jimin dragged him right to the place where Ba-reum just exploded. The man started to panic.

"No-" he muttered. But his head got bashed into the ground, as soon as he did. Breaking his nose and some teeth. His body went limp almost instantly. Blood pooled beneath his face. He began to slowly lose his consciousness. It hurts… Like hell… I can't… He was knocked out. That should calm him down. Jimin slowly took a deep breath, as he rested his head against the wall. He's out cold. This is my chance to heal up… It hurts like hell. He lightly pressed on his lower chest. But-"Ugh…" he groaned in pain.

I am out of potions and 'Heal' isn't gonna work... Only one option's left. He immediately opened his skill creation window and filled in the description. And after a few attempts, finally a window with the full details appeared.

[Skill: Regenerative Healing] Category: Passive / Active Type: Support Rank: Rare Level: 1/50 Description: Speeds up the body's natural recovery to repair flesh, bones, and missing limbs. Passive: Faster natural healing. Restores bones and flesh using Stamina. Active: Greatly increased healing speed. Restores severed limbs using Stamina and Mana. Scaling: Healing speed and regeneration limits scale with VIT and level.

Cooldown: None Cost: Stamina (Passive) / Mana & Stamina (Active) Required LP: 940 【Create】 【Edit】 [Draft] 【Delete】 This will do. Without wasting any time, he created the skill. Then, a notification popped up.

[Skill Successfully Created]'Regenerative healing' – Acquired. Total LP: 887 He could feel the skill settling, as a wave of warmth surged across his body. He had already begun to feel some sensation around his wounded area. It already feels less painful. But he didn't have any time to spare. He immediately activated the active mode. And opened his status window to monitor his resources. Hmm… My stamina and mana seems to be slowly burning away. But HP is being restored steadily.

Within the next minute, his wounds were completely healed.

But he was feeling a bit sluggish, due to the stamina drain. Then, he stood up and stretched his body a bit. I can finally move. Then, his attention shifted to the driver. What do I do now? He'll just die, if I ask him directly. It will kill him. Oath, vow, curse… Whatever the cause is. But at that moment, a sudden realization hit him. Wait a minute… Cause! If I can just identify the cause, I can definitely find a solution. He immediately opened his skill creation window and filled in the description.

After a while a window with the full details appeared.

[Skill: Inspect] Category: Active Type: Utility Rank: Uncommon Level: 1/50 Description: Analyzes a designated target to reveal their Level, Current Status and Active Curses. Ineffective against targets with significant stat difference. Scaling: Success rate against higher-level targets scales with WIS and level. Cooldown: 5 Seconds Cost: 5 MP Required LP: 210 【Create】 【Edit】 [Draft] 【Delete】 —--------------------------------------------------------- Hmm… It didn't actually include the name or oaths I asked for.

Maybe because it's not something I can just detect. Causality huh… He sighed. I expected too much. He shook his head. Anyway… The LP requirement is low. Everything else seems fine too. This is it… Create.

[Skill Successfully Created]'Inspect' – Acquired. Total LP: 677 As soon as the skill settled, he didn't waste another moment. His eyes locked onto the driver. He immediately activated 'Inspect' on the man. Within a few seconds, a window appeared. It buffered for a few seconds. Jimin was also eagerly waiting for the results. Come on… But it suddenly turned red and a message appeared, 'ERROR! Unknown Energy detected.' It surprised him.

"Huh…" he murmured. Unknown energy? What does that mean? But then, he remembered something. The ominous energy he felt from Ba-reum when he was about to explode. Jimin clicked his tongue, "Tch… These bastards." Who are these people? What is this energy? It can even block inspection. His expression tightened. Whoever these people are, they are extremely thorough. They are dangerous. Then, he looked at the man. But this makes it clear. They are under the influence of something…

But how do I fix something that's even unknown to the System? How can the system not know something? His mind was in a mess. What do I do with this guy now? He's of no use. I've no choice but to… Right then, he noticed a storage ring on the driver's finger. And an idea suddenly came across his mind. Yeah… Maybe there's some clue in his storage ring. He immediately used telekinesis to pull the ring off the man's finger. But since the ring was tight, the man had woken up from the sudden friction he felt.

As he opened his eyes, he slowly tried to look up. Discovering that Jimin was holding his ring and looking at it. A sudden rush of panic surged his body and mind. Shit… He has the ring. What should I do? He's gonna kill me. His expression tightened. I don't want to explode like Ba-reum. Then suddenly- A realization hit him. Yeah. Yeah... I can only bluff. If I can make him believe that killing me will be a huge problem, he won't dare kill me. A surge of extreme rage followed.

He immediately looked at Jimin with crazy eyes and shouted, "Let me go, f-fucker." Jimin was startled by the sudden shouting.

"If you kill me, they won't let this go. They will track you and your whole family down. Then, they kill you all like dogs. You don't know who I work for," the man continued with a smirk. That made Jimin's blood boil.

"You shouldn't have said that," he murmured.

"Huh? What did you say, bastard?" said the man mockingly. Jimin glared at him with death in his eyes.

"That's what I want to know," he said in a serious tone.

"Who do you work for?" ['Interrogation' activated]