Just as Shin Sooa had said, whether she had one arm or two, it didn’t seem to pose a significant penalty for her.

The men charged at her with knives drawn, only to crumple to the ground, bleeding out almost instantly.

At that moment, a deafening clatter echoed from the top of the stairs.

“Reinforcements have arrived! Push them back!”

So they were resorting to a war of attrition now.

I stepped over a fallen man and pressed forward.

“Ms. Shin, please take the left side.”

“Yes. Understood!”

Shin Sooa handled the thugs pouring in from the left, while I took the right.

Screams and guttural howls reverberated through the karaoke bar.

No matter how many of them there were, it was utterly futile.

Just a waste of time.

As I systematically dismantled each attacker that lunged at me, the surroundings soon fell quiet.

“Huu…”

I let out a short sigh and surveyed the area.

Bodies lay scattered everywhere like corpses.

Amidst the carnage, the loud thud of fists striking flesh continued to ring out.

-Puk, puk…!

Shin Sooa was still relentlessly swinging her fists.

The man on the receiving end appeared to have already lost consciousness.

The look in her eyes had shifted slightly.

I approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Ms. Shin. That’s enough.”

She glared at me with bloodshot eyes.

Her fists and face were thoroughly splattered with blood.

Oh, had ‘Bloodshed Impulse’ activated?

Even so, her condition didn’t seem too severe.

I kept my hand on her shoulder and spoke.

“Are you trying to kill him? If you hit him any more, he might die.”

The thoroughly beaten man’s body was trembling violently.

Only then did Shin Sooa seem to snap out of it.

She stepped back and frantically wiped the blood from her face.

“T-thank you. I got a little carried away for a moment.”

I began to wonder if Shin Sooa had brought me along not to fight alongside her, but to stop her from going too far.

Regardless, things were wrapped up on this end.

Shin Sooa hurdled over the fallen bodies and headed toward the room where Shin Ara was.

Shin Ara was still observing the situation outside, keeping the door locked.

Even with all her subordinates collapsed, she was smiling.

“Wow. I figured she wouldn’t go down easy, but still.”

She almost looked delighted by the current situation.

“That’s my Sooa for you. I’m telling you, the signs were there since back in the day. Seo Kangrim, you know what she did when she was in high school?”

“Shut up.”

At Shin Sooa’s sharp rebuke, Shin Ara flashed a grin and paused her chatter.

I already knew about her high school days, so I wasn’t particularly curious.

Since Shin Sooa’s father was a gangster, both she and her sister, Shin Ara, were frequently exposed to danger.

They had been kidnapped or ambushed by rival organizations on multiple occasions.

Each time, Shin Sooa had beaten the rival syndicate members to a pulp and brought Shin Ara back safely.

[I had to protect my sister, so I couldn’t just stand by.]

At first, I thought Shin Ara was exaggerating, but…

Seeing Shin Sooa beat down those syndicate members with her bare hands just moments ago made me think it wasn’t a lie.

“You really are a born fighter. You might want to live like a herbivore, but how can a tiger cub become a herbivore?”

“Open the door.”

“Sooa, honestly, you enjoyed that just now, didn’t you?”

At those words, Shin Sooa flinched and missed her chance to retort.

The blood on her hands hadn’t been fully wiped away yet.

Shin Ara drove the nail in further.

“The shaman who read our fortunes when we were young said so too, right? Your Four Pillars of Destiny are about taking and being taken from, about struggle and plunder. A destiny that enjoys all of it.”

“I…”

“Accept your destiny. Return to the Asura Sect…”

-Kwajik!

I smashed the karaoke room door open.

I didn’t want to listen to this kind of talk anymore.

“Sure. That might be Ms. Shin’s Four Pillars of Destiny.”

The special abilities bestowed upon Shin Sooa: ‘Bloodshed Impulse’ and ‘Weight of Karma’.

Those abilities seemed to tell her to live as a villain.

If she embraced those abilities and became a villain, she would rise to heights incomparable to when she founded the Flying Tiger Sect.

At my words, Shin Ara beamed broadly.

“Ah, Seo Kangrim! You think so too? I like you. As expected, Sooa’s…”

“However.”

I cut Shin Ara off mid-sentence.

“All of that depends on how you interpret it.”

“Huh?”

“For instance, if one’s Four Pillars contain Yugum, it’s said there’s a potential to harm others. It also indicates an affinity with tools containing metal.”

Shin Ara was looking at me with genuine interest.

“What profession do you think people with this destiny usually pursue?”

“Sounds like a criminal’s destiny to me?”

“No. Many doctors have this destiny.”

A doctor uses a blade to cut people, but ultimately saves lives.

Even if one’s destiny contains blades and killing intent, they can live entirely different lives depending on how they wield it.

“Everything has two sides. No matter what Ms. Shin’s destiny is, it’s not a reason to join the Asura Sect.”

A sharp blade serves different purposes depending on who wields it.

It can be a sword that kills, or a sword that saves.

Good and evil exist only in the human who uses the sword; the sword itself is neither good nor evil.

“So stop forcing her with talk of destiny.”

Shin Sooa was struggling to defy her abilities, her destiny, and the temptation to live as a villain.

Her compulsive need to live righteously and help others was likely her way of refusing to become someone like Shin Ara.

If she hadn’t been surrounded by this pressure, she would have lived more freely.

“But Sooa is…”

“Enough. Ms. Shin can handle herself. She won’t join some the Asura Sect.”

Shin Sooa was staring at me with wide eyes.

Meanwhile, the smile had vanished from Shin Ara’s face.

She was looking at me with eyes that sent a slight chill down my spine.

“Hmm, you two are quite close. As her older sister, I’m glad she found a good person. I’d love to invite you over to our house if I could…”

Shin Ara smiled again and spoke.

“I’m a bit busy today. Sooa seems mad, too. Let’s meet again later, then.”

The moment she finished speaking, Shin Ara vanished into thin air.

Did she have a teleportation item?

It was a remarkably expensive item to possess already; the Asura Sect’s influence was nothing to scoff at.

As I stared at the spot where Shin Ara had disappeared, Shin Sooa spoke in a small voice.

“…Thank you.”

She kept her gaze lowered, unable to meet my eyes.

“For what?”

“For saying that… No one has ever spoken to me like that before.”

Growing up in such a chaotic household, it was inevitable.

Shin Sooa hesitated before speaking.

“I’m really… glad you were by my side, Mr. Seo. Thank you.”

“…It’s nothing.”

I hadn’t said anything particularly profound, so her overwhelming gratitude made me feel awkward instead.

It felt strangely embarrassing.

We should probably slip out before the syndicate members woke up.

-Dding!

At that moment, both Shin Sooa’s and my phones rang simultaneously.

Checking it, I saw a message from Jang Taeheon.

[Hyung, we received a revelation. A Great Demon Realm is opening!]

I had figured it was about time for revelations to descend.

Jang Taeheon relayed the contents of the revelation without missing a single word, for my sake as a hunter.

[In one week, the first Great Demon Realm will open. Head to the Great Demon Realm and clear it. Failure to participate will result in a penalty.]

This part wasn’t much different from my past life.

The penalties would probably vary for each of the Manshin, but they wouldn’t be excessive—likely just a loss of Spirit Jade or falling ill.

I glanced at Shin Sooa.

“You haven’t received a Divine Descent, have you, Ms. Shin?”

“Yes, not yet. Can only those who’ve received a Divine Descent go to the Great Demon Realm?”

“I don’t think so.”

Participation itself was voluntary; only, for the Manshin, there was a degree of coercion due to the revelations.

Shin Sooa, looking at her phone, asked me.

“Are you going, Mr. Seo?”

“Yes.”

The Great Demon Realm offered rewards proportional to its high difficulty.

Moreover, I absolutely had to obtain the clear rewards from there.

I stepped over a collapsed syndicate member and spoke.

“Let’s head back quickly. We have things to discuss regarding the Great Demon Realm.”

* * *

“Boss, you’ve returned!”

“Welcome back!”

The Asura Sect sect building.

As Shin Ara stepped inside, the syndicate members lined up on either side bowed in a perfect ninety-degree greeting.

Despite the ominous atmosphere hanging in the air, Shin Ara accepted their greetings as if it were her due and walked in.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Boss? Call me Sect Leader. Ugh, when are you all going to drop the gangster act?”

“We will correct ourselves!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Shin Ara nodded as if granting them pardon and headed toward her private room.

The quaint room was decorated entirely in pastel tones.

She flopped down onto the sofa and said.

“Ah, I’m exhausted…”

Shin Ara’s eyes had turned cold and still.

One of the members gauged her mood before carefully setting a teacup down on the table.

The sweet scent of milk tea wafted through the air.

Her expression softened slightly at the aroma.

“Ah, thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

The members visibly breathed a sigh of relief at her response.

One man hesitated before speaking.

“Um, but… what about the other members and Boss Sooa…?”

“Ah, Sooa? Come here for a second.”

Shin Ara beckoned him over with a curl of her fingers, as if inviting him to lean in and listen. The member cautiously approached her side.

In the same instant, Shin Ara swung the teacup she was holding.

-Jjang-gang!

The teacup shattered against his head, and blood gushed from the member’s skull.

That alone didn’t seem to quell Shin Ara’s anger.

“Why did you have to ask first? You should have held it in until I spoke.”

“F-forgive us, Sect Leader…”

The members groveled before her.

They were all terrified.

Shin Ara watched them before letting out a deep sigh.

“Sorry. I failed to bring Sooa back. So I’m a little upset.”

She sank back deep into the sofa.

Then, she muttered as if filled with regret.

“To think Sooa wouldn’t come back… She used to be such a good girl who listened to her sister.”

Shin Ara had been eagerly anticipating reuniting with her sister.

She believed that Shin Sooa had simply gone through a brief rebellious phase and left home, but would eventually return if coaxed and cajoled.

But Seo Kangrim had been beside her.

“I thought if I eliminated everyone around her, Sooa would give up too, but…”

She recalled Seo Kangrim’s desperate struggle from just moments ago.

Seo Kangrim, who had taken down all her subordinates with his bare hands, was stronger than expected.

Too impressive to simply kill.

“It would be nice if I could bring Seo Kangrim to our side instead.”

She had heard plenty about his reputation at the Education Facility, but Seo Kangrim exceeded even her expectations.

To think he had instantly seen through the fact that the syndicate members were ordinary civilians and had completely seen through her plan.

Not only that, but his combat prowess was outstanding as well.

Shin Ara couldn’t see Seo Kangrim’s Fortune Window, but she could clearly tell that his abilities surpassed hers.

“And if her lover joins the Asura Sect, Sooa will end up coming over to our side too, right?”

“Eh? Boss Sooa got a lover?”

“Yeah. Seems like it. He’s skilled and handsome. Our Sooa certainly has an eye for men.”

Shin Ara was laboring under a severe misunderstanding, but there was no one around to correct her.

She smiled quietly and spoke.

“The problem is that Seo Kangrim doesn’t seem like the type to come easily.”

That fact was quite regrettable.

Shin Ara pondered for a moment before glancing at her subordinate.

“Milk tea. Again.”

“Y-yes!”

At her command, the gangster scurried off to fetch a new milk tea.

She took a sip of the tea, agonized over something for a moment, and then set the cup down.

Shin Ara smiled elegantly and spoke.

“Alright. Let’s focus on winning over Seo Kangrim first instead of Sooa. We’ll just have to corner him by any means necessary.”