Past Life Returner

The man was weak and seemed to have no real experience in violence. The only thing he did was to shout for the police when he encountered a dangerous situation. Mick applied a light half-Nelson hold around the man’s neck, compressing the carotid artery until the latter became limp in his arms. Mick immediately released the hold, because this hold was extremely dangerous despite the movies.  Another operative professionally injected him from a clear vial, probably a hypnotic like Scopolamine. This would keep him docile and soften him up for later questioning. His response to Mick and the soporific also meant the man did not have resistance skills or insignias.

The car pulled up in front of the alley, and Mick came back after putting him inside the vehicle. I waited until he came back for instructions.

“I suspect him of being a Cat. Take his clothes off and take a picture of anything that looks like a tattoo or birthmark. Bring me all of his belongings, particularly his wallet.”

While Mick undressed him, I was able to see his chest.  There were no Insignias, and with very few exceptions, Insignias appeared on the chest. Furthermore, his belongings did not include dungeon items. However, I suspected that he was a prior awakened because he looked at me like he saw someone like himself. In the casino room, the man had been hesitant whether to follow Yeonhee or me.

In an F class dungeon, the party member who acted as a scout only had to check the location of monsters. However, in high rank dungeons, scouts were much more important.

I had been a scout not only because of my high perception level but because of a trait I had. It was Ranger, which had enabled me to sense monsters and traps. A hunter who had the Ranger trait could also sense other hunters, which was often critical in a fight.

I would not be able to get it in this life because my first trait was now the Man Who Overcame Adversity. My guess was that this man had received the Ranger trait.

Mick got off the phone and told me various things about this man’s life.

“He owns a big fast-food chain in the east and came alone to the hotel.”

Was he on vacation? I went back into the alley, and I again confirmed that there were no cameras. Since Mick had only choked him, the man did not have any visible injuries. The Scopolamine would wash out of his system within hours. That meant that there was no evidence, we were clean.

“Put his clothes back on as well as his belongings.”

Except for his driver’s license. The only way the man could identify me was the CCTV footage in the casino, but the police would not investigate without evidence, and the casino would not provide the footage. If necessary, I could disappear and have him observed until I confirmed that he was a prior Awakened with the Ranger attribute.  He would have no way to track me.

If he was poor, I would have placed him in John Clarke’s firm and used him to find other prior Awakened or train him as a scout for high-ranked dungeons.

However, he was already rich. That meant I needed some other form of leverage.  Violence worked wonders in peaceful times, especially the threat of death.

**

“He’s awake.”

Yeonhee’s voice rang out in the hotel room. She was already glaring at him, and her right hand was holding her dagger. The man started to say something to her before turning around to me.

“You… What did you do? You attacked me with your thugs!”

“I thought you were going to mug me. However, you aren’t that poor.”

“Of course!”

The man now looked around and realized that he was in a penthouse suite, which quieted him down for a moment. I nodded to Yeonhee, and a black aura came out of her to swallow him. His body flinched before his eyes turned dark. (EN: Isis’s Gaze, Chapter 102)

The man stood up and went to Yeonhee to stare at her. I threw a dull jam knife at him, which he used to cut himself. However, he did not seem to feel the pain.

The next step was to take him to the terrace, where the wind blew loudly. I told the man in his face.

“We can cover this up as suicide easily, you know.” (EN: Hence self inflicted wounds on his wrists? Evil, Sun, evil. )

I tapped his cheek once before Yeonhee’s skill ended. She whispered in my ear.

“I cannot read his memories, and while I can do simple things, I cannot force him to commit suicide. Will this be enough?”

“Yes. He has no way to understand what’s happening to him.”

Yeonhee looked downcast and horrified, and I felt a pang. We both looked at the terrace, and the man came back after a while in silence. He hesitated for a moment before running to the door.

[You used the Medal of Restraint.] (EN: Mentioned in chapter 74)

[Subject: Leon]

A silver light flew from my necklace, and Yeonhee had gone after him in reflex. She had unsheathed her dagger and held it to Leon’s neck in an instant.

“Easy, easy.”

I motioned to Yeonhee she could step back as the item was in effect. I now approached Leon to show him his driver’s license.

“You won’t be able to run.”

“I can explain why I followed you.”

“That would be because of a quest or because you’re a Ranger, wouldn’t it?”

The man’s eyes widened a bit.

“You seem to have used your abilities to have gotten this far. However, that’s it, and you were not ready for us at all. You should consider yourself lucky that we let you live.”

The man was meek from the beginning of our talk but now shook with terror.

“Did you accept a quest to murder another Awakened?”

There had been one in my past life during the Trial Tests. The System was the same. I saw Yeonhee look as surprised as Leon.

“No, that’s not it. I have never heard of such a thing.”

“How can I believe you? Why should I? I can just throw you over the balcony and phony up a suicide note.”

I leaned back on the sofa, and Yeonhee seemed to have lost all compassion for the man as she glared at him. We remained silent until Leon could move again, but he seemed to have realized he had no chance of escaping. He could not meet both of our eyes.

“…Yes, it was because of my Ranger trait. You have to believe me.”

“Why?”

“I…can be helpful to your group.”

“Have you seen other groups? What do you know about my group?  Don’t lie. You know she can see right through you.”

Leon looked at Yeonhee for a moment before answering in a murmur.

“No, not a group like yours. I have seen a few individuals. It seems that I have been lucky.”

I had him sit in front of me.

“Your quest?”

“Once, five years back.”

“You would have become an Awakened then.”

“Yes.”

“Tell me everything.”

I handed him pen and paper while he still sat shaking.

**

[Name: Leon

Stamina: F(9) Strength: F(11)

Agility: F(2) Perception: F(20)

Accumulated points: 51 Traits: 1]

Leon had become Awakened just before he graduated from university. He had gotten perception stats from his box and received the Ranger trait from a daily quest.

I thought that building a successful fast-food chain was his true ability rather than his shabby stats. He was smart and greedy, and such a person tended to bet on a long shot when they saw a chance. He did so now.

“I want to go into your group. I will be of help in any way I can.”

I was not curious about the reason, as there could be many, but I wanted to know the limits he would go to. There were easy ways to test him.

“You’re serious?”

“Yes.”

“Then, will you hand over your property and business to join our group?” (EN: Oh Sun. ^_^ )